Hatton v Mayweather, December 8th

[stonecarver]

I just reread it .....yep stonecarver eating humble pie apologies Scott I totally took it the wrong way.
Cheers Adam

[Scott]

stonecarver said:

As for compareing Hatton to Chelsea and calling the guy a cunt.............. #furious# your just showing your own class !

admin said:

Mayweather reminds me of Chelsea. He's a cunt, just like the majority of Chelsea players, he's boring and defensive, like Chelsea tactics, but then throws a fucking MEAN punch, just like Chelsea so often catch their opposition on the break after they've worn them out.

Lol no worries.

[stonecarver]

#thumb# good on ya !

[robnob]

I said Hatton would go down in the 8th, 2 rounds short I was.

I knew his plan before he even stepped into the ring. As soon as I saw it unfold, I knew he was gonna get beat. Shadow boxing, simple as. Mayweather is so good with his goal and counter-attacks. Hatton tired himself out and Mayweather just took advantage.

Credit to the America, although he creamed Hatton afterwards. The only thing he could never have that Hatton has, is support and I think he realised that afterwards.

[DJB]

Shame. Thought Hatton had a chance after about 3 rounds when he was getting the better of Mayweather a bit but in the end Mayweather showed his class and deserved to win.

Floyd had the perfect gameplan, he didn’t try keeping away from Hatton all the time as he could have been caught with the body shots, instead he got so close that Hatton’s shots weren’t landing they were just going round him and not connecting properly and Hatton was running onto a lot of shots.

Perhaps the cut played a part in the fight as Hatton forced it too much after that, also the ref was poor and really pissed Hatton off which didn’t help him. The Check punch from Mayweather was CLASS.

Mayweather outboxed Hatton for most of the fight and deserved to win. It was nice to see him giving other people praise after the fight.

[Busby Boy]

I could watch the fight over and over again especially rounds 8-10. Just an exhibition in exploiting boxers who leave too much space when attacking, Mayweather was class. Pure class.

Round 10 TKO

"There's only one Mayweather
Only one Mayweather
He talks the talk
And he walks the walk
Walkin' in a Money wonderland.."

[ay23]

Don't really visit you guys much. Never anticipated there would be a Hatton/Mayweather thread.

Anyways, allow me to chip in with my worth. In my honest opinion, I thought Mayweather was going to win. Ricky was doing well early on, putting him under pressure and all, and I thought if he could just land one big punch, he could win. But that's easier said than done with Mayweather. Even in the early stages though, Ricky was just holding his own. I still thought Mayweather edged it. As soon as it got into the late rounds, I started to get worried. I thought that if there was going to be a win for Ricky it would be in the rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. I never thought Ricky was going to get knocked out though.

Personally, I think it was just too early a stage for Ricky to go up a division to welterweight and take on the best pound-for-pound fighter in the game. I was a modest fight-fan. I knew how quick "Pretty Boy" Mayweather was and how quick his hands were, but I wasn't aware of quite how powerful he was until I witnessed him in action. Obviously, he isn't the most powerful puncher in the game but regardless of what Ricky says, I wouldn't like to be in his mits. Remember, Ricky has only fought at this weight division once before and even then, he looked uncomfortable. Note also that this was arguably the biggest fight in his career. He looked disappointingly flustered beforehand. I just don't think he was ready for it. He should have got more experience in this weight division before making the step up.

However, saying that, Mayweather did look good and I believe this is the best he has performed in a long while. I must say, though, I don't believe the referee did Ricky any favours. Although Mayweather did look surprisingly good in close, I still thought Ricky had him. However, the referee did try to break it up whenever things got close. And I do think that that "punch" on the back of the head and the point that was subsequently deducted was the turning point. Mayweather had elbowed Ricky beforehand, found himself where he shouldn't be and the punch didn't even land! Despite what he may say, I believe the ref was firmly in Mayweather's corner.

Regardless of that, I do think that Ricky did let himself down in sorts in that he did not cover himself up well enough. Taking into account that Mayweather is such a good defensive boxer, Ricky needed to make sure that he got hit as little as possible and for me, he let his guard down too often. I also think that Ricky let the occasion get to him a little bit as the boys in commentary was saying. As a result, he went a bit "gung-ho" so he says, where he should have been a little cooler.

Despite all that, I still don't like Mayweather, the "man", or the "boy", as seems to be the case. All that "Ricky, come over here" stuff was bullshit and I'm glad Ricky saw through that. I read recently that Ricky's popularity had dealt a blow to Mayweather mentally and that was a blatant attempt at resolving all that. Although I do believe that Ricky won a bit of Mayweather's respect, I still do believe that a lot of that was sharades. Despite being a truly great fighter, he was never a great champ. All the trash-talking talent of Ali and none of the wit as somebody once said. I am glad that this fight has come about because it seems to have reinvigorated boxing, which I see as a worthy sport as opposed to all that border-line crap like cricket. I look forward to a Calzaghe-Hopkins bout in the future and a Ricky-Mayweather re-match. I just feel so sorry for Ricky as he looked like he wanted it so much in training.

[Red Yank]

All the trash-talking talent of Ali and none of the wit as somebody once said.

I agree with that quote ay23, Ali was a master trash talker but very witty. Mayweather was gracious in the end though and the better fighter obviously, but I still find all of the initial disrespect completely absurd.

[Busby Boy]

It was all mind games and although many people believe Hatton won the mind games, I don't think he did.

Mayweather wound Hatton up so much that in the end he lost his cool and just wanted to hurt him so badly that he forgot all the basics, tuckin' his chin in, covering up and he was exposed because of it. Mayweather won the mind games and it played a major part in the ring as it allowed the Pretty Boy to hurt Ricky.

Even Mayweather said it, "I'ma trash talker, Ricky's not. It's all mind games". He showed his humility and respect at the end of the fight and showed how much of a family man he was having his brother and cousin parading his belts.

There won't be a rematch, there will normally be calls for one straight after but the manner of the victory being so one sided means there won't be any need for a rematch. The score cards read two at 89-81 and one at 88-82 at the time of the TKO.

Mayweather should put his feet up and call it a day now, he said boxing won't retire him, he'll retire boxing and if he really wants to get his promotions up and running this is the time for him to do it.

He's proved all he has had to prove. Judah, De La Hoya, Hatton. He's beat the best out there and has proved himself best pound for pound fighter in the world as well as putting his name up there as a true great of the sport of boxing.

Up there with Eric Morales, Marc Antonio Barrera and Oscar De La Hoya as the true modern greats of the sport and he imo is a shade above all of those.