Boxing: Hatton jnr loses title fight to Mexican

(AP)

Mexico's Saul Alvarez beat Matthew Hatton in a unanimous decision in Los Angeles on Saturday to win the vacant WBC super welterweight belt.

The red-headed, freckle-faced 20-year-old Mexican, known as "Canelo" – the Spanish word for cinnamon – became the youngest man to win the 154-pound (70kg) title by convincingly beating Hatton, the younger brother of former world champion Ricky Hatton.

Alvarez dominated Hatton from the opening bell with repeated head shots and his brute force. Hatton twice went to the canvas after getting hit out of a clinch with Alvarez, but wasn't seriously hurt either time.

Alvarez missed the 68kg catch weight by 0.6kg on Friday, but the fight went on after Alvarez apparently agreed to pay a penalty to his opponent.

The 29-year-old Hatton, a longtime welterweight who claimed the European title while winning four straight bouts last year, agreed to stay in his first world title shot for the belt vacated by Filipino champion Manny Pacquiao. "He's a fantastic fighter, but he was just too big," Hatton said. "He never really hurt me. It was just a size difference. I want to go back down to my natural weight at welterweight, and hopefully I'll get another shot there."