MATTHEW HILTON: A Career Unfulfilled

By
Jim Amato
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4
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This was a young man that had world champion written all over him. He had all the potential in the world to have become a boxing superstar. He did achieve the status of world titleholder due to the fragmented title system of the day but I thought he would have accomplished so much more. Only Tony Ayala Jr. in that era disappointed me more. What a great fighter Matthew Hilton could have been.

He defeated former middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo to win his old-boxing-glovesnineteenth straight victory. In win number twenty he demolished the great Wilfred Benitez in nine brutal rounds. What a future was ahead for Matthew Hilton or was it?

He was 26-0 when he entered the ring to face IBF Junior Middleweight champion Buster Drayton in 1987. Hilton proved to be much too strong for the game Drayton and Matthew was now a world champion. Matthew would lose his title in 1988 via a stunning upset to Robert “Bam Bam” Hines. This would be the beginning of Hilton’s demise.

In 1990 he would challenge WBO middleweight titleholder Doug DeWitt. The gritty DeWitt survived Hilton’s early bombardment and came back to halt Matt in round eleven.

Here’s what I remember about Matthew Hilton. At his peak he was pound for pound one of the strongest fighters I’ve ever seen. He was a tremendous body puncher. When Matt was at his peak he was a very formidable fighter.

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Jim Amato
Jim Amato
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000392951653
Jim is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and is also a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO), which was once directed by Hall Of Famer Ralph Citro, Boxing notables Hank Kaplan and Harold Lederman are among IBRO's members. Jim is on the Publicity Committee for the American Association for the Improvement of Boxing (AAIB) that was co-founded by Steve Acunto and the late Rocky Marciano. He is a member of the Ohio State Former Boxers and Associates and the Trumbull County of Ohio Legends Of Leather, past President the late Sal Marino.Jim is also a former member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

4 COMMENTS

  1. I remember Matthew fighting Benitez. Gil Clancy said ‘Wilfred likes to fight off the ropes. Well, he better stay OFF the ropes with THIS kid.’

  4. Love the series, Jim.

    I too remember the potential of Mathew Hilton, but unlike Tony Ayala, Mathew’s lack of fulfillment seems to stem from his simply not being as good as his early promise–not an uncommon malady.

    Ayala went to prison; Hilton lost to fighters who were above average but not great. Hard to imagine a young Ayala losing to Hines, though Buster might have rung his bell and made him quit.

    Hilton vs. Ayala? History says Ayala, but if Matthew tested him hard enough and early enough, and survived til the later rounds . . .

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