Pat Brown Claims British and Commonwealth Titles with Hatton-Style Finish
Pat Brown walked into Co-op Live chasing history. He left with the British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles, an unbeaten record still untouched and a finish that felt ripped straight from Ricky Hatton’s playbook.
One thudding hook to the body. John Hedges down, then done. Six rounds, two visits to the canvas, and a new domestic king crowned on home turf in Manchester.
Brown, 26, moved to 7-0 as a professional, every win inside the distance, adding the famous Lonsdale Belt to the WBA International and IBF Intercontinental straps already strapped across his rise. This one meant more. He made sure everyone knew why.
“I finished him with a body shot in memory of him,” Brown said, dedicating the victory to Hatton, the British great who died a year and five days before fight night.
A puzzle, then a breakthrough
This was no simple coronation.
Hedges, all 6ft 6in of him and a tricky southpaw to boot, arrived unbeaten in 12 and boxed like a man determined not to let number 13 be his downfall. Tall, loose and awkward, he spent the opening rounds making himself a moving target, smothering Brown’s work, grabbing and spoiling whenever the Mancunian managed to slip inside those long arms.
Brown, roared on by a noisy travelling support from his native Sale, tried to close the distance and impose himself. Hedges refused to cooperate. The challenger dipped, slid and clutched, forcing the referee Reece Carter to keep stepping in as the fight turned scrappy.
Frustration began to seep into Brown’s work. He leaned on Hedges, nudged with his head, muscled him back over the top rope. Carter warned him, the crowd bristled, and for a spell the bout looked like it might drift into a messy stalemate of mauling and missed shots.
Then the switch flipped.
In the fifth, Brown stopped headhunting and started boxing. The jab came alive. He stopped loading up on single shots and began stitching his work together, punching through the target instead of chasing it. A right uppercut snapped Hedges’ head back, landing flush under the chin and finally drawing a collective roar that sounded like belief turning into certainty.
Hedges had survived the worst of it upstairs. The danger was about to come from somewhere else.
Hatton-style finish
After five rounds of aiming high, Brown dropped his attack.
In the sixth, he dug a heavy hook into the ribs. Hedges folded, slumping to one knee, pain written all over his face. He beat the count, but his body had already betrayed him. Seconds later, Brown went downstairs again. Another crunching shot, another collapse. This time, Hedges stayed down.
The unbeaten run was over. The belt changed hands. Brown stood in the centre of the ring, the new British and Commonwealth champion, having ended the fight with the kind of ruthless body work that made Hatton a national icon.
The poignancy ran deeper. Both men had shared ties to Hatton. Brown trained out of the same gym as the former welterweight world champion. Hatton had also guided Hedges earlier in his career, steering him to the English title. On a night that doubled as a tribute, only one of Hatton’s protégés could leave with the belts.
“I can't just go bulldozing in with him, people think you can't box,” Brown told DAZN afterwards, defending the patience he’d shown before the finish. “With John, you're not going to get him out of there straight away because he'll just make you miss and make you look silly. That's why it was a patient performance.”
The patience paid off. The belts are his. The record remains perfect. And the manner of the finish will echo every time his name is mentioned alongside Hatton’s.
Masoud shines, Jeffers and O’Regan move on
Earlier in the night, Shabaz Masoud delivered a shutout masterclass.
He outboxed Ckari Mansilla over 10 rounds, sweeping all three cards 100-90 to claim the WBA International and IBF Intercontinental featherweight titles. It was controlled, disciplined work from Masoud, who never let Mansilla into the fight and left the judges with nothing to debate.
At super-middleweight, Mark Jeffers edged past Kieron Conway in a British title eliminator, taking a points win that nudges him closer to a full domestic shot. At lightweight, Cory O’Regan seized his moment, becoming English champion by defeating Joe Howarth and planting his flag firmly in a crowded division.
While Brown took the headlines, the undercard quietly stacked up future storylines.
Cruz flattens Bravo, calls for Garcia
Across the Atlantic in San Diego, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz made his own noise.
The Mexican retained his WBC interim super-lightweight title for the second time, stopping Nestor Bravo in the sixth round at Pechanga Arena in a fight that delivered both controversy and a statement finish.
Cruz started fast, clubbing Bravo with a hook in the opening round as the Puerto Rican tried to tie him up. The aggression never really dipped. The tension in the ring wasn’t just between the fighters.
Referee Thomas Taylor took centre stage.
He docked Bravo a point in the second round for holding. In the third, he warned both men after a spate of low blows. In the fourth, he penalised Bravo again for dumping Cruz to the canvas, even warning the challenger that a disqualification would leave him unpaid. The message was clear: step out of line again and the night is over.
Bravo never got the chance. Midway through the sixth, Cruz launched a lead left hook that landed clean. Bravo hit the deck and couldn’t turn the tide. The defeat was only the second of his career; Cruz, now 29-3-2, walked away with another stoppage and a louder voice in the division.
He knew exactly where to aim it.
“Hey, Ryan, I'm here,” Cruz said after the fight. “My next fight for you. Come on, Ryan.”
Ryan Garcia, fresh from stopping Conor Benn inside two rounds in Las Vegas to retain his WBC welterweight title, had already teased a quick return, talking about December or January and naming Cruz among the options. He’s also been linked with Teofimo Lopez, who holds a world title at welterweight, while Cruz operates a division below. The politics could get messy.
The response, though, was immediate.
Garcia replied to the callout: “Pitbull proved me wrong tonight. Let's do this in December, the offer is on the table. I can tame a lion, I'm not to concerned about taming a pitbull.”
Around them, the next wave kept rolling. Daniel Blancas, Marco Verde and Eumir Marcial all won inside the distance on the undercard, each banking the kind of emphatic result that keeps phones ringing and matchmakers interested.
Domestic belts in Manchester, statement knockouts in San Diego, big names circling each other in two weight classes. The question now is simple: which of these nights becomes the launchpad for something much bigger?
