Hatton denied by draw

Matthew Hatton suffered heartbreak in his bid to win the IBO Welterweight title as his contest with Lovemore Ndou was adjudged a draw.

Brother of Ricky, who walked him to the ring, Matthew put up a tenacious display and looked to have done enough to edge a close decision with a strong finish to the fight.

But much too his disappointment, and the majority of those present at the Manor Sports Complex in Stoke, the judges could not split the two with each fighter winning by one on one of the cards and the other a draw.

As a result Ndou retains his belt while Hatton was left to reflect on what might have been.

After a cagey opening to the fight, Ndou looked to be throwing the more hurtful punches with his overhand right threatening and the South African opened a small cut under Hatton's left eyebrow in the second.

But Hatton remained busy and with Ndou having been warned on a couple of occasions for low shots the fight remained very even at the halfway stage.

The champion unleashed some eye-catching combos in round seven, but still Hatton came forward and he responded in fine style and trapped his opponent on the ropes with a hurtful right.

Flurry of punches

But just as Ndou looked to be tiring slightly, he produced arguably his best work of the fight in the ninth with a flurry of punches that rocked Hatton who was forced to survive until the bell.

The challenger came back strongly, though, and bossed the remaining rounds of the fight and Ndou's desperate wild attempts to land a knock-out blow in the last suggested he feared for the result.

At the final bell both boxers threw their arms aloft to claim victory, but ultimately the judges could not separate them with the cards reading 115-114, 114-115 and 114-114.

A furious Hatton claimed afterwards that he had been denied a clear victory, telling Sky Sports: "I thought I more than nicked it, I thought I won it by three or four rounds.

"I thought I won that fight clearly, without a doubt."

Ndou responded: "He gave me a lot tougher fight than I expected, but I thought I was always in control of the fight."

However, the stats appeared to agree with Hatton who threw 442 punches landing 91 in comparison to Ndou who threw 356 and connected with 78.