Central Arena super lightweight champion Jimmy Joe Flint (14-1-2, 3 KOs) believed his thrilling victory over Campbell Hatton (14-1, 5 KOs) was written in the stars after he retained his title at the Sheffield Arena. 

In the lead-up to the contest, all eyes were on the unbeaten Hatton, son of 2024 two-weight world champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Ricky Hatton, but Flint earned a unanimous decision to retain his title and hand Hatton the maiden defeat of his career.  

“I think it was written in the stars,” a bruised Flint told IFLTV. “I know in the build-up that I said a lot of things, Campbell, but fair play to him, he will come again.” 

Flint admitted that despite the back-and-forth nature of the fight, he remained confident of winning and retaining his title despite being viewed as the underdog by the bookmakers. 

“He is a very strong kid. The fight was going back and forth but I knew I had done enough to get the win,” Flint said, adding that he felt he could have claimed a stoppage in the 10th and final round. 

“I thought it was there. I did go for it, but credit to him for it. He survived and is a very strong kid.”

Flint said his pre-fight antics were seen as disrespectful by Hatton’s supporters but he felt some things went against him in the lead-up, although he was ultimately with the result. 

“There was no beef between me and Campbell anyway. I had to do that because I felt a lot was going against me in the lead-up to the fight. I had to get something to go in my favor,” said Flint. 

“I told him not to take too much of what I said in the build-up to heart. We both shook hands, and that’s that.”