Entering last night's maiden voyage into the deep end of the pool - a serious tester for the Manchester, England fighter they call "Hitman" - there were questions to be answered.

And what better tutor for young Hatton than the former IBF Jr. welter champ turned elder statesman "Cool" Vince Phillips ... and even at age 39, with 52 fistic assignments on the resumé, was seen by all as having a bit more than the puncher's chance.

Didn't take long ... opening candle at the midway mark ... a snapping left hook opens a nasty cut to the right eyelid of Hatton ... first question quickly answered with young Ricky taking immediate charge with big body shots delivered from both the port and starboard side.

Phillips would prove the gamer he has always been, as each round increased the Hatton margin ... but not a single slow round by either fighter from start to finish.

By round three it was clear Hatton was the quicker handed and busier of the two ... 4-5-6 had this veteran fite watcher starting to think that maybe the "Cool" Vince corner would be considering a no-mas ... but not to be.

And so the beat continued with Hatton showing some of the intangibles that the good ones always have ... an ability to take what is given you - and speaking of take, as in whiskers, this now graduate to bigger things showed the chin is made of solid stuff.

Was round eight that Phillips pretty much emptied the last of his serious arsenal with couple big right hands ... appeared to briefly rock Hatton ... but shortly after, it was the local taking the round.

Finally, the numbers pretty much tell the tale ... no arguments that 119-109 was right on the money ... 120-107 and 120-108 just a tad off ... still, Phillips, a class act had no beef with the scoring.

Final thoughts: Post fite ringside interview by Colin Hart asking Phillips what he thought of Hatton ... Vince replied Hatton was what he expected to be facing ... very tough kid that takes a good punch and has stamina to go with it. Said the kid is not a big puncher but hurts when going to the body and does the damage in accumulative manner. Agreed!

On that note, the brain trust has itself a money-making machine that is now seen worthy of keeping company among the elitist of a boxing-rich Jr. welter division.

The pickings are out there ... the bottom line will be in the choosing ... some of the names: Tszyu, Corley, Gatti, Ward, Judah, the man named Vivian as in Harris, Mitchell, Urkal ... on and on it goes. Camacho Jr. maybe? Think not.

In closing, while I'm happy for the pride and joy of Manchester - the punch output was mind boggling - I feel for the courageous veteran "Cool" Phillips, who is now considering a move up to full welterweight.

Semper fi,

GEL

4-06-2003

Visit Geo El's "Nostalgic Corner"