by Dave Crellin
12/15 - Danny, Danny, Danny...Anyway, that’s covered elsewhere. Suffice to say that Williams was as brave as those who know him thought he would be, but as limited as had been suspected when he weighed in at a giant 270 pounds.

Back in the UK, this fight was part of a PPV package with Ricky Hatton’s umpteenth WBU light-welter defence against rugged American Ray Oliveira. Oliveira has been a respected operator at welter and light-welter for a number of years and this was his first stoppage defeat. The Hatton detractors (and there are many) offer the view that Oliveira was shopworn but the evidence for that prior to this contest was thin on the ground. After ten rounds with Hatton, though, Oliveira looked a broken man.

Hatton launched himself at the challenger from the bell, decking him with a lively right in the opener. Hatton’s best work was to the head: Oliveira’s face was peppered with smart, accurate and fast shots. In fact it was Hatton’s trademark bodywork which let him down – the tendency to get too close when working inside has emerged in his last few outings and is an area on which to work.

But let’s not detract from what was Hatton’s best show of the year. He didn’t give Oliveira a moment’s respite – his work rate is phenomenal and would give all but the super-fit Kostya Tszyu significant worries. With Oliveira being driven into survival mode so early, Hatton was able to slowly dismantle the proud American who was evidently fighting for his career. But another right hand in the tenth saw Oliveira slide to the floor and surrender.

No bones, Hatton looked excellent. He’s the mandatory for Tszyu and the shenanigans around whether this one is or isn’t going to be made are already occupying the majority of boxing’s precious newspaper column inches. After the fight Oliveira gave his opponent plenty of respect and offered the opinion that Hatton would be a live contender against the holders of all three of the big 140-pound belts (Tszyu, Viv Harris and Arturo Gatti).

On the undercard, touted prospect Kevin Mitchell was given a tough time by Welshman Henry Janes. Mitchell was flattered by the 40-36 scorecard. Martin Concepcion had another one-round blowout win. Big John McDermott boxed to an unattractive loss for the English Heavyweight title, the belt being won by the much smaller Mark Krence (and deservedly so). McDermott should really look at his motivation and consider his future in the sport. Wayne Alexander boxed to a comfortable win over Brixton journeyman Delroy Mellis.

Friday night brought us a Sheffield card with a couple of interesting little bouts. Heavyweight Roman Greenberg whitewashed Julius Francis on the cards over ten rounds. Francis bristled menace as long as the round weren’t ongoing, but had no real answer to the speed and variety of Greenberg, who caught the old war-horse repeatedly with combinations being thrown from an increasingly low guard. We didn’t learn much about the young Israeli-Londoner, but it became evident very quickly that Francis’ menace is confined to his pre-fight bark.

David Haye had a short night with a one-round KO of heavyweight Valery Semishkur. A hard right had the Estonian down early in the first, and the follow-up produced a ripping left hook to the body which saw Semishkur finish the count still curled up on the canvas. Haye punches hard, but we knew that already. Job done, though.

Quite a feisty card coming up on Friday. Local hero Dale Robinson goes out in Huddersfield for the English bantamweight title against Johnny Armour. Armour has been around for ever and Robinson, attempting to bounce back from his only loss a couple of bouts ago, should be a little too keen and fresh and will take the points verdict.

The man who inflicted that loss on Robinson, Jason Booth, is also on the card, again defending his IBO super flyweight title. The challenger this time is Irishman Damaen Kelly, on a two-fight roll since being stopped by Irene Pacheco last September. It seems as though neither has the power to stop the other but the combination of aggression and good boxing skills make this potentially the best bout of the weekend. In a tough call, I’ll go with Kelly to pip Booth who, at only three years older, has plenty more miles on the clock.

One of the country’s hot cruiserweight prospects Mark Hobson defends his British and Commonwealth titles against powerful veteran Bruce Scott. Hobson’s blend of ability and strength mean that he should have too much for the infrequently-active Scott. Last summer Scott was stopped in four by Enzo Maccarinelli – Hobson will be looking to do better than that.

Looks like Junior Witter has a foot on the world title ladder after securing a defence of his European title with Italian Gianluca Branco, to take place early next year.

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