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Viva Manc VegasWelter by Ben Dirs - BBC Sport (U1657561) 07 December 2007   In the end the band in the Nine Fine Irishmen admitted defeat. There’s only one winner in a fight between The Rocky Road To Dublin and Walking In A Hatton Wonderland, as sung by a couple of hundred of well-oiled Mancs. I’m not sure what was more shocking, the terrified look on one young lady’s face as another Hatton fan pulled up his Man City shirt to reveal half a dozen bellies, or the sight of Mexican hard-man Marco Antonio Barrera in a pink leather jacket What the Yanks make of this Manchester invasion is difficult to tell, but you can be sure that the womenfolk will have worn some colourful chat-up lines - and lots of phlegm - by the time the week is out. By some estimates, 20,000 Brits are expected to be in Vegas over the weekend, which could make Friday’s weigh-in, with room for 6,000, an interesting affair. As for fight-night itself, Impulse Tickets are selling seats for between $998 [£490] and - wait for it - $41,999 [£20,700], as if at $42,000 people might have considered them a little bit too steep. I’m not sure what was more shocking, the terrified look on one young lady’s face as another Hatton fan pulled up his Man City shirt to reveal half a dozen bellies, or the sight of Mexican hard-man Marco Antonio Barrera in a pink leather jacket. Barrera was the latest boxing legend to give his backing to Hatton on Thursday, a day when Floyd Mayweather’s uncle and trainer Roger weighed in with all the best lines. Appearing on a special press screening of HBO’s fly-on-the-wall documentary ‘24/7’, Roger, a truly scary human being, described what was going to happen to Hatton at the weekend: “Floyd’s gonna take some salt and pepper, spread it on Hatton’s ass, then he’s gonna cook it and throw it in the @*&$@& frying pan.” Make that man the next poet laureate. News reaches me that Tom Jones will be singing the national anthems before the fight The final part of ‘24/7’ also contained footage of Hatton’s fitness guru Kerry Kayes stabbing trainer Billy Graham in the neck with a hypodermic needle (“just for a laugh”) and Roger’s two-year-old son Lehkei duffing up an oven. There was also a poignant clip of Hatton wistfully explaining how he deals with the final few days before a big fight: “We’re three days away now. I only wish it was three hours.” Don’t we all, Ricky, don’t we all. Ricky was still doing the rounds on Thursday, moving from one American radio station to the next over in the MGM Grand. I couldn’t help thinking he should be playing cards or something up in his room, especially after Graham confided they had both been worn out by the constant media attention. But that’s Hatton and that’s just one of the reasons why everybody - apart from anyone with the surname Mayweather - loves him. News reaches me that Tom Jones will be singing the national anthems before the fight, which means, with The Voice in the bag, I may now pop along to see the Spice Girls on Sunday. Not my choice, ladies and gents, the choice of BBC Radio 5 Live boxing - yes, boxing - correspondent Mike Costello. Dear old Harry Carpenter would have happily rounded off a weekend of championship boxing with a steak supper down at Wollensky’s Grill. Here’s hoping for some more argy-bargy at the weigh-in. My life, this is getting exciting. ----------------- Read my other Vegas articles... Part One: Welcome to Vegas Part Two: Mayweather v Hatton is hotting up Part Three: 'Undefeated' comes to the boil Latest 10 commentsRead members' comments or add your own
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filipe24 (U4713182) posted Dec 7, 2007 SimplyTheTruth if you live anywhere near a portuguese bar/restaurant you should go over and ask if they will show the fight. Its on Portuguese cable and its not PPV. The portuguese community in the UK all get this cable over satalite.
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AmericanRingSux (U10066417) posted Dec 7, 2007 And I must say, I have never witnessed the usually fair-minded BBC website so biased and one-sided. Whereas for most fights, they give interviews with pundits and give nothing far beyond fact but this time you would think they were the ones being interviewed and speaking their full opinions and biased ones at that...I like it. BBC Sport, you are not complete robots afterall(no offence
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redandblackT1899 (U5926882) posted Dec 7, 2007 speed kills!pbf has too much hand and foot speed for vicky hatton.another lop sided decision for mayweather!
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redandblackT1899 (U5926882) posted Dec 7, 2007 ha ha ha.the brits in vegas are completely brilliant.hopkins just came in and got serenaded with"na na na na na na na na hopkins is a p&ssy hopkins is a p&ssy!
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rhino65 (U9810572) posted Dec 7, 2007 Ben Dirs
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Aberdeen-ManUtd86 (U2630267) posted Dec 7, 2007 Really think Roger Mayweather should stop getting knocks to the head, you would need to put Hatton's ass in the frying pan to cook it, cooking it and then putting it in the pan is just CRAAAZZZZY talk!!
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aolden (U1739504) posted Dec 7, 2007 Oi Dirs,
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showaprofit (U9327549) posted Dec 7, 2007 PBF labored to a split decision win against Oscar. Hatton will throw at least twice as many punches and a lot harder for a full 12 rounds. He will also be prepared for all the tactics that PBF will use against him. Also, look at the recent press conferences, PBF looks like he's preparing to do another dancing competition whereas Hatton has got the attitude of someone who wants to win very badly. Each time they've squared up it always looks as thought PBF is going to sh1t himself and that's why they've had to be pulled apart! Hope PBF has got some scaffolding for his ribs after the fight.
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maher111 (U9873256) posted Dec 8, 2007 comment by SimplyTheTruth
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stu32AVFC (U10347314) posted Dec 8, 2007 This is gonna be one hell of a fight! I think he will knock him out, but if he's gonna do this, he will need to do it quickly. If Mayweather stumbles through the fifth round, I reckon he'll just about edge it, I don't think the Rickster can outbox this chump. COME ON THE HITMAN!!! Comment on this article
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