Sunday, March 27, 2011

Hatton wants to take out emerging 'rock star' Alvarez

Matthew Hatton knows he's a means to an end. He's a willing participant in Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's quest for a title, but he's not going to lay down and hand the WBC belt the young Mexican star.

Alvarez, just 20, could take the first step to superstardom with a 154-pound (catchweight of 150) win over the less famous Hatton in Anaheim on Saturday night.

"Obviously, Saul is very popular in Mexico. Obviously, in LA, it's like fighting in his backyard. It's obviously going to be Saul who is going to have the bulk of the support and rightly so, but no, it's not something where I'm concerning myself," Hatton said. "I'm going to put on one hell of a show. I hope the people will respect that."

Ricky Hatton's younger bro thinks Canelo (35-0-1, 26 KOs) has been spoonfed to this point in his career.

"I think in his fights so far, he's had a lot of things his own way," Hatton said. "I've had fights in my career in the past where I've had to dig deep and come through rough patches in fights. I don't think he's had those experiences yet so far."

Oscar De La Hoya knows what it's like to be a huge star. He had much of the Mexican fanbase behind him during his brilliant career. It sounds he believes, Canelo can be even bigger in Mexico.

"I've been down with him in Mexico many times. He does have that rock star-like following from the grandmothers to the teenagers. It is truly incredible. I haven't seen something like that, obviously, since I've been fighting," said De La Hoya.

"This fighter is not only charismatic and is a good-looking kid, but he can fight. I've been witness to that, up close and personal. We feel that Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez can be the biggest thing that has hailed from Mexico inside that square circle."

The fight is the headliner on an HBO card (10 p.m.ET/7 p.m. ET). The lead-in is expected to be a good super featherweight scrap between veteran Daniel Ponce de Leon (41-2, 34 KOs) and young 20-year-old Cincinnati star Adrien Broner (19-0, 16 KOs).

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