By Sean Reed
Matchmaking a bout for 2008 United States Olympic alternate Charles "The Future" Hatley is an arduous undertaking to say the least.
Most of the welterweights, super welterweights and middleweights in Hatley's home state of Texas react to fight offers like they were being sentenced to death.
Hatley's career is being guided by Black Gloves Promotions as their showcase fighter, yet up until the very last minute had no guaranteed opponent for his most recent bout. Eloy Suarez eventually stepped up to the plate as the willing B-side for last Saturday’s headliner from the Palladium at Gilley’s in Dallas, Texas.
Suarez was initially slated to face Taronze "T-Reezy" Washington, at 154 lbs, but came in several pounds over the contracted limit. He sacrificed his chance at a regional title, but was "rewarded" with a higher purse in exchange for his services against Hatley, arguably the best young fighter in the Lone Star State.
To his credit, Suarez bravely accepted the challenge, immediately brought the fight to his foe and even landed a right hand while Hatley was against the ropes.
But it was all downhill from there.
Hatley responded with a smile and a left hook which visibly hurt Suarez. A left hookercut and a right to the forehead made his knees dip. The journeyman was forced to retreat to the ropes after absorbing a right to the temple followed by a left handed body/head combination, but ran out of real estate as a brutal right-left-right deposited him on the canvas.
Once Suarez rose, it was open season. Hatley rained lead rights, left hooks to the body and an all out two fisted assault upon his opponent, until the referee stopped the contest.
The official time was 1:28 of the opening round.
Afterwards, "The Future" was complimentary and at times critical of himself as he spoke of the immediate past just shared with Suarez (11-6, 5KO).
"I knew from his record that he wasn't a pushover,” said Hatley, who rolls to 5-0 (5KO). “That dude came to fight. I needed somebody like that to make me put in work.”
The work he put in was brief on paper, but long enough to realize some flaws which he plans to correct sometime between now and his next fight.
“I got the chance to open up on him a little bit, but I still feel like I kept my hands too low a couple times. So I'll keep working on that. I just want to keep fighting, fight the best and hopefully it'll be against more guys like that."
