Ricky Hatton tells of pride in Brett McGinty
The St Johnston puncher won on points at The National Stadium on Saturday despite suffering a hand injury in the opening round
Ricky Hatton praised the heart of Brett McGinty after the St Johnston slugger fought one-handed for five rounds on Saturday.
McGinty is now 7-0 after a points win over Patrik Fiala in Dublin.
McGinty hurt a troublesome left hand when connecting with Fiala’s head in the opening round.
The Donegal boxer had a bit of difficulty in the fourth round, but he regained some composure over the final two verses.
“I’m very proud of him, maintaining that movement with one hand,” Hatton, a multiple world champion, said.
“You could see that he wasn’t throwing his left hand throughout the fight. He sat on the ropes a bit too long in the fourth round. He was boxing great with loads of variations.
“I didn’t think he’d (Fiala) take six rounds, but he spotted that Brett was only going with one hand.”
McGinty had difficulty with the same hand in the latter stages of a November win over Alessandro Ruggiero, but showed no ill effects in training.
Hatton said: “That was the best training camp since he came to me. We’ve been working at improving in certain areas and he is improving.”
Hatton’s son, Campbell, moved to 11-0 on Saturday night with a first round stoppage of Louis Fielding at the O2 on Anthony Joshua’s undercard.
Hatton flew into Dublin to corner McGinty who he now believes is ‘at the Irish or Celtic title stage’.
Hatton said: “He started dead positive, was in his face with a lot of combinations, bouncing and moving with good variations.”