Matthew Hatton has agreed to fight Golden Boy prospect Saul Alvarez in Anaheim on March 5.
European champion signs for March showdown with Mexican
Matthew Hatton will head to the States to fight Golden Boy prospect Saul Alvarez.
Hatton Jnr has signed the contract and will box the unbeaten Mexican at the Honda Center, Anaheim, California, on March 5.
Alvarez is just 20 but has already fought 36 times and is yet to lose, knocking out 26 of his 35 victims and drawing his fifth pro bout back in 2006.
He is the WBC Silver light-middleight champion and is being touted as Oscar de la Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions' next big thing, with the bout top of the bill on American TV with HBO.
But Hatton sees it as the perfect chance to show the world how good he is after a superb 2010 in which he won - and twice defended - the European belt.
"That's what appealed to me," he told
Hatton TV.
"I want to test myself against the best fighters out there and Saul is considered one of the best fighters out there at the minute.
"There's a bit of publicity surrounding him, they've got big plans for him but my plan is to derail them.
"I'm up against it going out there and many people see me as being the underdog going into this fight but I don't see it at all. I'm going into this fight full of confidence."
Hatton was one of the many success stories in British boxing in 2010.
He beat the respected Gianluca Branco to become European champion and then defended it in style against Yuriy Nuzhnenko - when he had to climb off the floor in the first round - and Roberto Belge.
He is now ranked sixth by the WBA and 13th by the WBC at 147lbs and although Alvarez would be a major stepping stone and earn him kudos in the States, his a world-title shot is the priority.
