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Matthew Hatton Feature



Did you know Hatton’s fighting for the IBO title next month? No? Well before you go running to the internet to try and figure out how the famous Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton could have such a massive fight without you even realising, it isn’t actually Ricky at all, it’s his not so little, little brother. Matthew.




Since he was born in Stockport back in 1981, ‘Magic’ Matthew Hatton has done everything he can to try and steal some of the limelight from his big brother. He’s the only Hatton who supports the red half of Manchester for a start.

But on March 2nd, after years of fighting on Ricky’s undercard, Matthew will have his biggest opportunity to claim the spotlight once and for all. In a match which some are calling the biggest fight in South Africa for a dozen years, he takes on IBO Welterweight champion Chris Van Heerden, hoping to add another massive win to his already illustrious career.

The man who claims to have “had more fights than John Wayne” holds a record of 43 wins, six losses and two draws since turning professional in 2000, and has held inter-continental, international, and European welterweight titles, proving that he’s no slouch in the ring. And if you ask him, he’ll even tell you that half of those losses were greatly unjustified.

Many feel that Matthew is a massive underdog travelling to South Africa, after suffering some crushing recent defeats, such as Kell Brook in Sheffield. But apart from a questionable cut stoppage at the start of his career, ‘Magic’ has never been stopped, and feels he is 100 per cent ready for the challenge.
“I do feel physically and mentally that I’m maybe at my peak. I didn’t have a great night there but let’s see what the future holds. You have your ups and your downs, and I do think your downs really make you stronger.”

As much as Matthew wants to adopt some of his brother’s glory, he acknowledges the massive impact ‘The Hitman’ has had on his lengthy career. “Me and Ricky were always sports mad. Boxing is just something that I’ve always been around.”




Matthew began his boxing career as an amateur at the tender age of 12, fighting 22 times before turning pro seven years later, something which he openly regrets. “Perhaps, in hindsight, I should have stayed an amateur a little bit longer. But I think it was seeing Ricky, and how well he was doing professionally, it made me want to quickly turn pro.”

His first professional fight took place in September 2000, ending in victory over fellow pro-debutant David White, and Matthew remembers it like it was yesterday. “The thing I remember most from that night, is I remember the nerves were unbelievable, I always feel sorry now for young lads making their debuts because the nerves are terrible, once you’ve got that first one out the way it does become easier.”

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Usain Bolt Feature






With a name like Usain St Leo Bolt, you’d be forgiven for thinking that ‘the fastest man ever’ was born to be a sprinter. Would he be the man he is today if his name was Usain Puddle? I hardly think so.

But it wasn’t until he reached high school that the Jamaican superstar really began to make the world of sprinting his own. As he grew up in a small Caribbean town in Trelawny, Usain dedicated his life to football and cricket whilst his parents ran the local grocery store. Hardly the glamorous lifestyle we associate with one of the biggest personalities in world sport.

Thankfully, his cricket coach noticed his speed on the pitch when fielding was what you might call, better than average, and urged the lanky teenager to try his hand at track and field. By 2001, the Bolt we know and love had started to emerge, winning 200 metre Silver in the annual High School Championships, frustrating his coach along the way with a lack of dedication, and a penchant for practical jokes.

By the start of 2003, Bolt already had seven gold’s and four silver’s to his name at junior level. And by the time he turned professional in 2004, he was the most exciting prospect in all of world athletics.



Few will have remembered Bolt in the Athens Olympics, an injury hampered performance led to a disappointing first round exit, a setback which could have sent a much weaker man’s career spiralling downwards, but not Bolt.

In 2005, Bolt began working with new coach Glen Mills, he dedicated his time and effort on a much more serious level, and in the next 3 years, won gold in the 2005 CAC Championships in Nassau, and silver in both the 200 metres and 4x100 metre relay in the 2007 Osaka world championships.

Then, in 2008, the man they call the ‘Lightning Bolt’ went to Beijing, the rest, as they say, is history.

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Lance Armstrong is the Harvey Dent of Cycling





So I recently watched the Batman trilogy, and as soon as I'd finished watching The Dark Knight, I couldn't help but notice an obvious link between Harvey Dent and Lance Armstrong.

If you've seen The Dark Knight, you'll understand all about Harvey Dent, and why Batman saved him instead of Rachel, and why Batman took the fall for Dent's crimes etc. etc.

If you haven't, it basically goes like this:

Harvey Dent is a district attorney in Gotham, he puts criminals behind bars. But he becomes much more important to the people of Gotham than that, he becomes their hero, their idol. He becomes the ray of hope for people that Gotham can overcome all the crime, without him, the people of Gotham have nothing to believe in.

Batman understands this, and so when Harvey Dent is corrupted by the Joker, and goes on a killing spree, Batman decides to take the fall for Dent's crimes, because if he doesn't, and the people learn that even Harvey Dent, the saviour of Gotham, the ray of hope they have, can be corrupted, that even he can sink to the levels of the scum he is trying to fight. Then what hope does Gotham have? Gotham is doomed.

Sure enough, we see at the start of The Dark Knight Rises, that in the 8 years since Dent's death, his untarnished legacy has helped Gotham become a better place.

Everything about that story screams Lance Armstrong to me.

Lance Armstrong is the Harvey Dent of cycling, he was the ray of hope in a sport filled with cheating and doping. He was the guy who had battled cancer and gone on to win 7 Tour De France titles without cheating. If he could do it, so could anyone, fans started to believe that cycling could become a clean sport again.

However, the powers that be in cycling, were given the same choice as Batman was, do they expose Armstrong's corruption? or do they sweep it under the carpet for the good of the sport?

They, rightly so, chose to expose him, but now we're facing the kind of backlash that Gotham never faced in the films. The white knight of cycling proved to be just as corrupt as everyone else, so what hope does cycling have? It's reputation for cheating has become stronger than ever now.

The only hope cycling has, is that Bradley Wiggins is the new Lance Armstrong. If he can become the ray of hope for cycling and go on to become half as successful as Armstrong, and do it cleanly, the sport may just be pulled from the gutter it currently lies in.

But if Wiggins is ever found to have cheated? Cycling could well and truly be finished.

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