The night began ominously for Floyd Mayweather before he even entered the ring. The British invasion was in full effect last night, as the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas was turned into the American version of the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England. The arena was filled with the screams and singing of rabid Ricky Hatton fans who had traveled across the Atlantic to see their man beat the Pretty Boy. Venerable British crooner Tom Jones sung the British national anthem to boisterous cheers while American R&B crooner Tyrese Gibson had his rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner drowned out by the boos and whistles of the pro-Hatton crowd. Somewhere Paul Revere was shaking his head.
Surprisingly, Mayweather entered the ring to Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A., in an attempt to blunt the British fervor. It didn’t seem to work. It appeared that Hatton had firmly established the "home-ring advantage." The only problem is that this was the only advantage that Hatton would enjoy all night.
The first four rounds were marred by mauling, elbows, forearms, and clinches. Referee Joe Cortez had to use his hands as much as the fighters, as he repeatedly broke up clinches and admonished both fighters for their rough tactics (Hatton would eventually lose a point for a rabbit punch). This came as no surprise to me, as I predicted that Hatton would press the action and try to force Mayweather into a back-alley brawl. But like I also predicted, it would not work. Even when Hatton was pressing the action, Floyd was picking him off, especially with counter right hands. He used this punch to open a bad cut over Hatton’s right eye in round three and keep his game challenger at bay over the first half of the fight.
The HBO Boxing crew gave the impression that the fight was fairly close by the midway point, but it was clear to me that Mayweather was slowly dissecting Hatton and using his aggressiveness against him. By the eighth round it became proverbial batting practice for Floyd. He repeatedly countered, confused and dazed Hatton until finally putting him out of his misery in round ten, courtesy of a wicked counter left-hook (which led to the first knockdown) and a follow-up flurry (which led to the second and final knockdown) in round 10. The fight started out ugly for Floyd, but as he had done 38 times before, the Pretty Boy remained unscathed, undefeated, and left with his #1 Ring pound-for-pound status in tact.
He even scored in the post-fight interview, as he showed grace and humility in his comments regarding Ricky Hatton and his legion of British fans. No one but Floyd really knows how sincere his comments were, but it was refreshing nonetheless. It also shows that he is finally comprehending what is needed to become the mega-star that he always promised that he could be. Sure, a follow-up win against rising superstar Miguel Cotto would further solidify his Hall of Fame credentials. But let’s just sit back and soak in the satisfying result of the year’s last superfight. The fight was hyped extremely well (the reality show Mayweather-Hatton, 24×7), had a great atmosphere (British fans taking over Las Vegas), and exceeded expectations in the ring (Mayweather displaying more offense than usual).
Great read Ja. I hope he was as serious about retiring this time as he was after the De la Hoya fight, which means we’ll get to see him grace the ring at least one more time. Personally, I think Cotto’s people keep him away from Floyd until he retires. I’d like to see him fight the winner of Williams/Cintron.
Thanks, I try. I dunno, now seeing that Floyd is a better-than-decent draw now; this is the time for Cotto to cash out. With De La Hoya probably wishy-washy on ever fighting again, Cotto’s only future paydays in his prime may be against Mayweather (before he retires) or Hatton (if he continues to fight on). Arum and co. would be best serve to call out Mayweather now. Sure, he’d be a decided underdog, but he may as well do it now.
There is one Ricky Hatton!
Now yer done Ricky Hatton!
Try talking yer smack
From flat on yer Back,
Mayweather’s the Champion of The World!
d.
D, this was actually Floyd’s version (lol):
There’s only one Mayweather!
There’s only one Mayweather!
He talks the talk and walks the walk
Walking to the money land!
LOL! Good one Ja. It was a great fight. Floyd brought it to him, fought his fight, (tight and inside), and knocked him out. The only blemish to the evening was the rude, arrogant, obnoxious, drunken behavior of the British fans. I actually started out the evening a Hatton supporter, ehy, I’m white and not that smart sometimes and Hatton looked like an English Rocky compared to Floyd’s Apollo Creed.
Once the Brits disrespected the Star Spangled Banner I became a fervent Mayweather fan, and God Bless him, he didn’t let us down. Needless to say, I won’t be fooled again.
d.
Oh, by the way, bookmarking your site now. I’ll link to you a little later on. Good job.
d.
Thanks for the bookmarking my man. The more the merrier…I’ll be creating an email subscription alert feature for my unbiased predictions. 🙂 And yes, that was ridiculous (the booing), but I will control a but for the beverage-intake, etc…but then again, inexcusable!
Pretty Boyd proved he can hang with a brawler which is important in boxing…nontheless he is lucky Hatton to fight a little smarter in the middle rounds…cause the stats are totally skewed from the last few rounds….Thats my Fight Insight….LOL
Xtra…
Greg: There is NOTHING Hatton coulda done to win that fight man, don’t you understand. He gave a good showing, put on a show, and helped fill the arena, but all of that was no match for the man who is simpler a better overall fighter than him. Just acknowledge that you were wrong man. 🙂
Your right Dawson, Hatton followed his game plan, and what happened, he still LOST by knockout. Iam now a firm believer about Floyd’s abilities. He has speed, power,chin, heart, you name it.
Yes, let’s hopefully see he and Cotto face-off. The 24×7 series will highlight Bob Arum’s bitterness for letting Mayweather go. lol
Oh man I forgot about Arum previously being his promoter. Cotto Mayweatheer 24/7 would be far more entertaining than the fight itself! LOL! Man, Roger cracks me up! LOL!
Roger definitely brings a “Flavor of Love” appeal to the series. LOL
Mayweather fights dirty, due him holding, clinching, and most of all, fighting mostly with his ELBOWS. I think if ricky were to fight at his weight that he always fights he would never be beat. Mayweather is the best ELBOW fighter in the world. He is a fighter that gets BOOED for a reason, and thats in my opinion a DIRTY fighter henry penta
DonJohn, I have to disagree with you on this one. While I do agree that Floyd cleverly used his elbow (actually more of his forearm) to create space between he and Hatton on the inside, to call him a dirty fighter for applying this tactic against a very physical fighter like Hatton is a stretch. And Mayweather has been been booed in the past because he often wins easily but in boring fashion (which was NOT the case on Dec. 8 I might add), not because he has a reputation for fighting dirty. However, I do agree with you that Hatton will still be formidable at 140 pounds, should he continue to fight. He has nothing to be ashamed of.