Ricky Hatton v. Floyd Mayweather

[Viper007]

Anyone else watch the fight last night? Here is a brief description of what was going on:

The biggest boxing match of the year is tonight, as Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton square off for the WBC welterweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Both fighters are undefeated, Mayweather at 38-0 and Hatton at 43-0. Mayweather is the fastest and probably the best fighter of his generation, but is more respected than loved by fight fans. The product of a family history tangled and violent enough for Greek drama, Mayweather sometimes seems to play the role of a pro wrestling villain. He is, however, a master in the ring.

Hatton is a cheerful, beer-swilling native of Manchester. His brawling style has long made him popular, but it was a big win over Kostya Tszyu that catapulted him into the sport's top rank. Hatton rarely throws a jab; he burrows in and unleashes hooks with both hands. Thousands of Englishmen have made their way to Las Vegas for the fight.

I won't ruin the results if someone Tivoed or recorded the fight so discuss. Even if you don't like boxing feel free to express your opinion as always.

[mclaren_crazy]

It went the way that I thought and hoped it would

[Jack_Bauer]

Watch the fight last night? I wish! I was up at 4am this morning to watch it. Paying for it now though!

Well, I'll give my thoughts below. If you don't want things spoiled then don't read on (although if you don't know the result already you'd pretty stupid to open up a thread about it!)...














I thought it was a decent fight, though not perhaps a great one. I thought the contest was largely spoiled in the early rounds by the overly fussy referee and the questionable tactics of Mayweather of ducking his head below waist height(!) every time things got in to close-quarters. The referee was jumping in to stop things every 10 seconds, it got really annoying! He should have warned Mayweather early on for ducking and turning his back on his opponent like that.

That being said, the better fighter clearly won. I was rooting for Hatton throughout, partly because I'm British, partly because I really hate Mayweather's arrogance and attitude. I thought he may have stood half a chance if he was able to keep the intensity at 110% for the whole fight. De La Hoya showed that Mayweather could be shaken up by high intensity punching but he couldn't maintain it beyond 5 rounds. Hatton got off to a great start, really shaking up Floyd in the opening round, but he faded a little in the middle rounds.

Given that extra time and space to get into his flow Mayweather really hit his stride and showed his class beyond round 6. I think Hatton's post-fight assessment was correct when he said that he panicked, realising that he was slipping behind on the score-cards, and went out too hard and left himself wide open to Mayweather's hand-speed. That left-hook that put Hatton down for the first time in the 10th was absolute genius. As good a punch as you could ever wish to see.

Credit it to them both after the fight; they were both very honest, fair and respectful in the press conference. All the animosity and hatred was left in the ring. I would have loved to have seen Hatton wipe the smugness off Mayweather's face, but the best fighter definitely prevailed. He could definitely go on to be recognised as one of the greatest fighters of all time after this. I can't really see anyone else out there capable of stopping him at the moment. He should remain undefeated for as long as he has the desire to continue really.

[gdhaliwal23]

At the weigh-in they seemed to almost kiss, yuck... Ricky Hatton & Floyd Mayweather Weigh In

[Vindesh17]

I missed it and it didn't go the way I wanted.

[MadMax13]

****ing bullshit, useless ref, just like the Liddell/Jackson fight...

[h22a]

bullshit elbowing from mayweather all night, doesnt help oll ricky when floyd has a 7 inch reach advantage as well. man the pomy crowd was gold.

[h22a]

****ing bullshit, useless ref, just like the Liddell/Jackson fight...

what do you mean? are you reffering to rampage knocking liddel the **** out in UFC 71 or somethin?

[Filovirus]

Wow, people still watch boxing? Mayweather is a punk anyway. The last fight he got all mad at Dana White for holding a UFC pay-per-view the same night. He started trash talking the UFC, so Dana offered him a chance to put up or shut up.......and so far no Mayweather in the UFC. That's OK, in Feb good ol' Brock Lesnar comes to the Octagon.