Matthew Hilton (boxer)

Matthew Hilton (born December 27, 1965) is a Canadian former boxer^[1] from Montreal, Quebec and one of the four brothers from the fighting family Hilton.

He started boxing professionally in early 1983, and while doing so lived (along with his father/trainer and other family members) a nomadic lifestyle, moving from place to place in a 'movable trailer.'

Fighting style

It was tough growing up for Hilton, but he transferred that toughness to the ring, at least as his career started. Though Matthew had decent boxing skills for a brawler, he preferred to press forward, back up his opponents, and detonate his punishing left hooks, and powerful overhand rights. Two of the big names he faced in his rise to stardom were former 3-time world champion Wilfred Benítez and former world middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo, who both fell victim to his devastating KO power. He won the IBF junior middleweight title, and brought Canada its first world boxing title since the 1940s, with a 15-round unanimous decision over defender Buster Drayton^[1] on ABC in Montreal, June 27, 1987, which was also named KO Magazines TV Fight of the Year for 1987. He made one defense on the Tyson-Biggs undercard on HBO in October of that year, busting and bruising up a totally outclassed Jack Callahan before the referee called things off after two rounds. His next fight was an exciting non-title bout on ESPN in the middleweight division against Paul Whitaker of New Orleans, who was knocked down and brutally battered by Hilton before being KO'd in the fourth round. Matthew then apparently had the upper hand in the early going in his next defense - a November 1988 matchup with Robert Hines on Showtime.

After knocking a bloodied Hines down twice, he let Hines back in the fight, and Hines steadily hammered a very tired and not very well prepared Hilton in winning a come-from-behind 12-round unanimous decision, after which Hilton would be champ no more. Hilton admitted after the fight that he had sustained rib injury during training for that fight (Between rounds, Hilton could be heard telling his father that he couldnt throw his left hand). Matthew later rebounded with a lackluster (though controversial) draw against Fermin Chirino, a bout in which many felt that Matthew had won by a 10-round unanimous decision, followed by two more exciting bouts against journeyman Tim T. Williams (on ESPN), who was KO'd in round 10, and Tennessee toughman Knox Brown, who had only previously been down at the hands of John Mugabi, and was again floored by Hilton in a 10-round decision victory on the USA Network. His last crack at a title was on the Foreman–Cooney undercard in January 1990, when his eyes were again swollen shut by the punches of defending WBO middleweight titlist Doug DeWitt.

Injuries and Retirement

This time, though he fought gamely, Hilton was the loser not by decision but rather by 11th-round TKO when his father had seen enough and did not let him fight the last round. Hilton's eyes were both completely closed. His cutman only had ice to unswollen the eyes which ended to be ineffective. Because of that fight, he suffered from a retina injury which followed him for his next few fights before forcing him into retirement. He will receive many unsuccessful surgeries for his eyes. His career began to sputter during the 1990s, and, partly due to the various troubles plaguing the Hilton family, Hilton never was really able to regain his championship-level caliber. He said he's never been as much motivated for training after he won the IBF's belt against Buster Drayton.

Professional boxing record

32 Wins (24 knockouts, 8 decisions), 3 Losses (1 knockout, 2 decisions), 2 Draws
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	10-6-1	Darrell Flint	UD	10	27/05/1993	Halifax Forum, Halifax, Nova Scotia	44-47, 41-48, 44-46.
Draw	15-10-1	Kevin Daigle	PTS	10	11/02/1992	Verdun, Quebec	95-95, 98-92, 94-96.
Win	15-3	Clarence White	UD	10	12/11/1991	Verdun Auditorium, Verdun, Quebec	95-92, 94-93, 94-93.
Win	38-21-2	Knox Brown	UD	10	31/07/1990	Northlands Agricom, Edmonton, Alberta	99-89, 99-89, 99-91.
Loss	31-6-4	Doug DeWitt	RTD	11	15/01/1990	Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey	WBO World Middleweight Title. Doctor stopped the fight before the 12th round.
Draw	11-4-1	Fermin Chirino	PTS	10	19/12/1989	Caesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey	92-98, 96-94, 95-95.
Win	16-10-1	Tim Williams	TKO	10	10/10/1989	Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 0:25 of the tenth round.
Loss	23-1-1	Robert Hines	UD	12	04/11/1988	Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada	IBF World Light Middleweight Title. 110-116, 111-112, 111-114.
Win	23-1	Paul Whittaker	TKO	4	29/07/1988	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 0:15 of the fourth round.
Win	23-0	Jack Callahan	TKO	2	16/10/1987	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey	IBF World Light Middleweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 3:00 of the second round.
Win	32-9-1	Buster Drayton	UD	15	27/06/1987	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec	IBF World Light Middleweight Title. 146-139, 144-140, 147-138.
Win	9-0	Muhammad Eltassi	TKO	2	29/04/1987	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	Referee stopped the bout at 2:19 of the second round.
Win	9-6	William "Crystal Kid" Clayton	KO	2	12/12/1986	Madison Square Garden, New York City	Clayton knocked out at 1:41 of the second round.
Win	3-2-1	Franklin Owens	TKO	2	22/11/1986	Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 1:23 of the second round.
Win	10-9	Aniseto Ramos	PTS	10	13/06/1986	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	12-2	Bobby McCorvey	KO	1	20/05/1986	Madison Square Garden, New York City	McCorvey knocked out at 1:50 of the first round.
Win	13-13-1	Bruce Jackson	TKO	5	19/04/1986	Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 3:00 of the fifth round.
Win	49-4-1	Wilfred Benitez	KO	9	15/02/1986	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	Benitez knocked out at 2:59 of the ninth round.
Win	50-6-2	Vito Antuofermo	RTD	4	20/10/1985	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec	Antuofermo retired after the fourth round.
Win	2-10	Lopez McGee	TKO	4	06/09/1985	Tamiami Fairgrounds Auditorium, Miami, Florida	Referee stopped the bout at 1:44 of the fourth round.
Win	7-8-2	Roberto Hernandez	TKO	9	29/04/1985	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York	Referee stopped the bout at 0:38 of the ninth round.
Win	20-0	Francisco De Jesus	UD	10	22/01/1985	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec	100-90, 98-93, 99-93.
Win	22-6	Bill "Fireball" Bradley	RTD	3	11/12/1984	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	Bradley retired at the end of the third round.
Win	13-31	Sam Gervins	UD	10	14/10/1984	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec	100-94, 99-92, 100-90.
Win	0-2	Ronald Thermidor	TKO	2	10/07/1984	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec	Referee stopped the bout at 1:59 of the second round.
Win	29-5-1	Nino Gonzalez	KO	8	01/06/1984	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec	Gonzalez knocked out at 2:59 of the eighth round.
Win	10-14-1	Reggie Ford	TKO	1	30/04/1984	Hall de l'Exposition, Quebec City, Quebec	Referee stopped the bout at 1:30 of the first round.
Win	5-1	Eddie Hollett	TKO	5	04/12/1983	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec	Referee stopped the bout at 1:29 of the fifth round.
Win	6-5-1	Hardy Jones	RTD	5	10/11/1983	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	Jones retired after the fifth round.
Win	0-11-2	Frank Mackey	TKO	3	23/08/1983	Le Carrefour Sports Centre, Laval, Quebec	Referee stopped the bout at 1:09 of the third round.
Win	4-4-1	Harold France	KO	3	29/07/1983	Cornwall, Ontario
Win	6-15-2	Clinton Harris	KO	4	21/06/1983	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	Harris knocked out at 1:20 of the fourth round.
Win	9-12-3	Mike Essett	UD	6	24/05/1983	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	60-53, 60-53, 60-55.
Win	1-1	Jacques DeBlois	TKO	3	26/04/1983	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	Referee stopped the bout at 1:47 of the third round.
Win	10-23-1	Frank Minnigan	UD	4	29/03/1983	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	40-35, 40-35, 40-36.
Win	1-7	Adrian Green	TKO	3	15/02/1983	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	Referee stopped the bout at 2:01 of the third round.
Win	4-5	Denis Brisson	TKO	2	25/01/1983	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	Referee stopped the bout at 2:42 of the second round.

References