Ricky Hatton promised to learn the lessons of his 13th and arguably worst WBU light-welterweight title defence.
 With bigger fights around the corner Hatton knows he can ill afford many more below-par performances like the one which saw him drag out a points win over Argentinian Carlos Vilches in Manchester on Saturday night. It is testament to the champion's talent that he was never in the remotest danger and still picked up 119-108 (twice), 120-107 landslide verdicts. But he admitted he must discover the reasons for his off-night before October's scheduled step-up against one of two Americans, Paul Spadafora or Vivian Harris. Hatton said: "It wasn't one of my best nights and where normally I would have picked it up I went through the motions. "I didn't find that extra kick and I wasn't really myself. "I was winning comfortably and I did not look to finish the fight, which is not really me." The champion, who extended his unbeaten record to 36 fights, said having only eight weeks' notice had not helped his preparations. Hatton damaged his hands during his April win over Dennis Holbaek Pedersen and could not begin proper training until five weeks' ago. He looked impressive early as he barged forwards in typically relentless fashion. But Vilches, a low-key replacement for original opponent Antonio Mesquita, stood up to his best shots and used frustrating tactics to take the sting out of Hatton's assaults. Vilches did crumple to the canvas in round five but referee Darryl Ribbink ruled a low blow and gave him time to recover. Hatton suffered repeated low shots for the remainder of the contest which went unpunished. Hatton admits he has problems ballooning in weight in between fights and that is in part due to the complacency of fighting lower status men like Vilches. He made clear he had patched up any differences between himself and his promoter Frank Warren over the quality of his opponents, which seems about to change for the better. | 
