CAMPBELL HATTON cheered up dedicated dad and Man City super-fan Ricky with another win in his exciting young career.
Former two-weight champ Hatton missed his beloved Sky Blues losing their FA Cup semi-final to Liverpool a few hours earlier, down in Wembley, to watch his son’s latest learning bout at their local Manchester arena.
Campbell Hatton celebrates winning his fight against Ezequiel Gregores
And he will have had his spirits lifted as his 21-year-old lad survived a few scares to come out on top in his seventh win.
Hatton was gifted a terrible decision win last September, by a weak refereeing call, which turned some fans off of his growing story.
But his crowd-friendly style and dangerous willingness to stand and trade will win them back, with more clashes like this one with Ezequiel Gregores which was scored a 60-54 shutout.
Hatton started razor-sharp, cracking shots into the hard Argentine who had never been stopped despite nine losses.
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Like his two-weight champ father, Hatton went whacking to the body and hurt his opponent a couple of times.
Round two started well for the young Brit but raised a lot more questions about his potential and defence.
The father-of-one got carried away with his body attacks – trying to emulate his rib-cracking father – and was clipped by a handful of left hooks and a right hand.
A harder hitter than lightweight journeyman Gregores will flatten the young charge if he is not reined in soon by uncle-and-trainer Matthew.
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Hatton was harder to hit in the third and landed a right hand that stiffened the visitor’s legs briefly.
Campbell was more tidy and precise in the fourth but looked like he was starting to tire after 12 minutes of bomb throwing and bouncing.
Gregores was shattered by the fifth but he enjoyed Hatton hitting him and demanded more of a thrashing, after absorbing a combination on his high guard.
Hatton spent too much time and energy looking for a sensational body-shot stoppage but when he relaxed and varied his shots he showed plenty of improvement.
In the sixth and final round Hatton kept chipping away at the tough South American and settled for a wide and, more importantly, fair points win at the final bell.
