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'Undefeated' comes to the boilWelter by Ben Dirs - BBC Sport (U1657561) 06 December 2007   Floyd Mayweather, as American sportspeople tend to do, thanked God, causing one of his cronies to turn to a nearby Ricky Hatton fan and crow, "God don't make mistakes!" Even Hatton's trainer Billy 'The Preacher' Graham got in on the act, calling for a gasper after his little turn at the altar, in a voice like coal being crushed under a door After a typically rambling speech from Mayweather's uncle and trainer Roger, Hatton quipped, "thank you Roger for making the winter a little bit shorter".Uncle Roger, bouncing baby Lehkei on his knee, looked confused, and you half expected a nurse to appear, dab his chin and wheel him out of harm's way. While Ricky hopped onto the dais to the strains of 'Walking In a Hatton Wonderland', his travelling brass band greeted Mayweather with a spot of Steptoe and Son, a sly reference to Pretty Boy's three-piece suit. Even Hatton's trainer Billy 'The Preacher' Graham got in on the act, calling for a gasper after his little turn at the altar, in a voice like coal being crushed under a door. Mayweather, who is used to being centre of attention, looked cross, and became even crosser every time someone entered the media centre and Hatton's fans, massing at the entrance, caught a glimpse of their hero. "THERE'S ONLY ONE RICKY HATTON, THERE'S ONLY ONE RICKY HATTON!" they sang, causing Ricky and promoter Oscar de la Hoya to giggle like a couple of naughty schoolboys. De la Hoya is a strange one. A six-weight world champion, he appears to be morphing into an assistant manager of a branch of Carphone Warehouse, albeit an extremely handsome one. He presided over one of the most convoluted press conferences in the history of sport, and there was palpable relief when the obligatory stare-down, which must have lasted for three minutes at least, descended into the even more obligatory bout of argy-bargy. "I gave him a 'you're dead' gesture," said Hatton afterwards. Mayweather reckoned Hatton was nervous because he was "chewing gum". Anyone would have thought the fight was to prove who was the hardest in the fourth year juniors. There can be no doubt that Wednesday was the day 'Undefeated' came to the boil, and amid the hubbub there was much chat about boxing returning to the good old days. Even fight historian Bert Sugar looked impressed, and he knows a thing or two about boxing's golden age. The figures for this fight are pretty staggering. It sold out in barely half an hour, with gate receipts of approximately £5.1m Now MGM's in–house expert, he has more props than a circus clown and was safely ensconced behind a desk for the duration of the presser, conducting radio interviews with an old-school telephone while chomping on a 12" cigar.Muhammad Ali's biographer Thomas Hauser, meanwhile, who has surely witnessed it all before, was seen shaking his head in disbelief at the antics of Hatton's raucous fans. The figures for this fight are pretty staggering. It sold out in barely half an hour, with gate receipts of approximately £5.1m. Fourteen-thousand closed circuit seats, at £24 a pop, have been sold in seven of the MGM's Vegas casinos, while 180 countries are broadcasting the fight, with 50m people expected to tune in in China. Lucky, then, that Floyd Mayweather is not taking the fight lightly. BBC Radio 5 Live's boxing correspondent Mike Costello had a chat with his hand-wrapping sage Rafael Garcia on Tuesday, and he reckons he's never seen anyone train so hard. Garcia, incidentally, has worked with 37 world champions. The 75-year-old Garcia, who probably needs his sleep, received a call at 2am on Wednesday and it was Mayweather summoning him to training. Hatton was presumably tucked up in bed at the time, which reminds me of something double-Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson once said. "I know that Jurgen Hingsen will not be training on Christmas Day," he said of his great rival. "So I make sure I do." And, as any British sports fan knows, Thompson usually won. PS. Do you want to know something truly extraordinary? Each slot machine in New York New York pulls in £244 a day, which makes the fact that my bedroom looks like a motel on the A127 even more difficult to understand. Mind you, that number shouldn't really surprise me. Yesterday I saw an elderly lady in a wheelchair parked up in front of a fruity, her credit card in the machine and attached, almost umbilically, to her person by a piece of elastic. To be honest, I couldn't work out whether it was funny or one of the most tragic things I'd seen so far this century. ----------------- Read my other Vegas articles... Part One: Welcome to Vegas Part Two: Mayweather v Hatton is hotting up Latest 10 commentsRead members' comments or add your own
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secondnonpatriot (U10622346) posted Dec 9, 2007 erm? - actually the fight is over old boy. It was Hatton who was 'pulped' in case you haven't heard! ha ha!!
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Hunter S. Thompson (U10545146) posted Dec 9, 2007 erm? - actually the fight is over old boy. It was Hatton who was 'pulped' in case you haven't heard! ha ha!!
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GBamford (U8401984) posted Dec 9, 2007 I stayed up to watch this, over all it was a good night of boxing. Shame about the result, it was great to hear the British fans out there giving support, but the way some of them reacted during the United States national anthem is nothing short of a discrace. It was embarrassing!
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splendidMustbe6 (U10292085) posted Dec 9, 2007 What a shame - I really wanted to see an American beaten to a pulp.
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secondnonpatriot (U10622346) posted Dec 9, 2007 splendidmustbe6 have you ever listened to 'god saves the queen'? what a dirge that is! Mind you it is a whimpy anthem for a whimpy country! At least the yanks have an anthem to be proud of. Land of the free means they whipped us brits back in 1760 by the way!!
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Dave (U10230183) posted Dec 10, 2007 Anybody want to agree with what I said on Friday?
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susanindy (U8137592) posted Dec 10, 2007 Well, Ben, I don't know if you would consider this irony or not, but Mayweather was right -"God don't make mistakes." I guess you are eating a bit of pompous crow today. Must taste awfully bitter knowing Mayweather was right. I hear that had to peel Hatton up off the canvas.
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I've got the cheese Lynn (U9885754) posted Dec 10, 2007 Normally i agree that booing a national anthem is wrong but the american!! sung by some member of some boy band sung badly!! nah!!! its a mikey mouse country!! nice place to visit but you don't wanna live there!!! posted Dec 10, 2007 splendidmustbe6 have you ever listened to 'god saves the queen'? what a dirge that is! Mind you it is a whimpy anthem for a whimpy country! At least the yanks have an anthem to be proud of. Land of the free means they whipped us brits back in 1760 by the way!!
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crouch_9 (U6021824) posted May 6, 2008 what did i tell you idots aboth hatton being a phoney! was so happy when the bum was knocked out and hit the deck like the useless joey that he is. witter will spank his fat ass nto submission and he wont even fight his adversary donwthe m62. witter now has a world title and fatty has no excuses. he is a disgrace to british boxing had to beat old men with dirty wrestling tactics. Comment on this article |
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