Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
WBN Editor
Ukrainian stops ‘Hitman’ with body shot
Former WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko is on
course for another shot at a world title after taking out a fading Ricky Hatton
in nine rounds at the Manchester Arena.
The 35 year-old recovered from a slow start to gain a
foothold in the fight from the fourth round as a ring-rusty Hatton felt the pace following a
three and a half year absence from the ring.
Hatton, 34, was greeted by an adoring capacity crowd in his
home town as he entered to his usual ‘Blue Moon’ theme tune, although the
occasion proved too much for the Briton after a promising start.
The ‘Hitman’ showed glimpses of his old self in the first
two rounds and looked to have worked out Senchenko’s awkward style early on, but ultimately
ran out of steam in the second half of the fight, leading to his tactics going
out of the window.
Senchenko was catching Hatton as he came in time and again
from the fifth round as the two-weight world title holder clearly had timing issues
with his punches and the writing was on the wall from that point on.
A crunching body shot in the ninth round was the finisher
and an exhausted Hatton could not even have made a twenty count from referee Victor Loughlin as Senchenko
celebrated his underdog victory.
Immediately following the fight, Hatton re-announced his
retirement from boxing, as promised, and hopefully has put to rest the demons
that haunted him after his crushing loss to Manny Pacquiao.
Whether Senchenko has done enough to impress the US TV
executives into accepting him as Paulie Malignaggi’s next opponent in Hatton’s
place remains to be seen, although a title opportunity shouldn't be far away for the Donestk fighter.