Boxing: Hatton's cut delays defence

Ricky Hatton had plastic surgery yesterday to close a wound on his right eyebrow following his dramatic points win over veteran American Vince Phillips at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.

Hatton dominated from start to finish a fight that was both brutal to watch and impossible to ignore because of Phillips' bravery. When it was over Hatton was a clear winner and much the better fighter.

The cut was inflicted in the first round but, thankfully, Hatton's cuts man, Mick Williamson, was able to conjure up some magic from his small medical box of tricks to stop the blood flowing. When the fight was over the ringside doctor took one look and realised that the muscle in addition to the skin had been cut and that meant that surgery was inevitable.

The injury means that Hatton will be out of the ring for at least four months and that could put an end to the often-mentioned fight with his nemesis, Junior Witter, who was a far too casual and unimpressive winner on Saturday's undercard.

It is now possible that when Hatton's eye has healed that he will fight another respected American because Saturday's fight was shown on the US cable channel Showtime and early reactions suggest that the Manchester boxer went down well.

There was high drama in the hour before the first bell, but, thankfully, few in the crowd of 12,000 knew anything about the crazy antics of Phillips, who actually packed his bag and left for his hotel because of a dispute over money. When Philiips left, a replacement, Aldo Rios of Argentina, was actually gloved up and ready to fight.

When the bout was over and Hatton was celebrating his splendid win, the promoter Frank Warren revealed the two weeks of mayhem that had preceded the thrilling 12-round encounter. Before Warren could get Phillips in the ring on Saturday night he was persuaded to pay $19,000 (£12,250) in outstanding alimony for the boxer, increase the purse by $50,000 and then send the veteran campaigner two first-class tickets.

However, Warren, who is a world-class negotiator, was able to persuade Phillips to face Hatton. He said: "They tried to hold me to ransom but it never worked and in the end Ricky showed just how good he is.''