Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton

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Undefeated
DateDecember 8, 2007
VenueMGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineWBC and The Ring welterweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer United States Floyd Mayweather Jr. United Kingdom Ricky Hatton
Nickname "Pretty Boy" "Hitman"
Hometown Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Stockport, Manchester, UK
Purse $25,000,000 $10,000,000
Pre-fight record 38–0 (24 KO) 43–0 (31 KO)
Age 30 years, 9 months 29 years, 2 months
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 5 ft 6+1⁄2 in (169 cm)
Weight 147 lb (67 kg) 145 lb (66 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBC and The Ring
Welterweight Champion
The Ring No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
5-division world champion		 IBO and The Ring
Light Welterweight Champion
The Ring No. 8 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
2-division world champion
Result
Mayweather Jr. wins via 10th-round TKO

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton, billed as Undefeated, was a professional boxing match that took place on December 8, 2007, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, between reigning WBC and The Ring welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and reigning The Ring light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton.

The fight was for Mayweather's WBC & The Ring welterweight titles. Mayweather defeated Hatton by TKO in the tenth round.

Background

The referee for the fight was Joe Cortez, with Burt Clements, Dave Moretti and Paul Smith as the three judges. Hatton weighed in at 145 lbs and Mayweather at 147 lbs.[1]

In attendance were celebrities such as Denzel Washington, Fábio Coentrão, Diego Milito, Simon Bird, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Angelina Jolie, Mario Lopez, Brad Pitt, Wesley Snipes, Will Ferrell, Gwen Stefani, Jimmy Kimmel, Tiger Woods, Jude Law, Jamie Hunt, David Lochery, footballer David Beckham, Kid Rock, fellow Dancing with the Stars alums, Wayne Newton, Mark Cuban and season 5 winner Hélio Castroneves and Karina Smirnoff, who is Mayweather's dance partner.[2] At the weigh in the crowd were whipped into a frenzy as Joe Calzaghe (who was there supporting Hatton) squared up to American legend Bernard Hopkins (who was there supporting Mayweather).[3]

Throughout the weigh-in, fans of Hatton could be heard singing "Hatton Wonderland" and booed Mayweather.[4] Prior to the fight, Tom Jones sang "God Save the Queen", and Tyrese Gibson sang "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Hatton and Mayweather at a press conference in Manchester, 2007; Mayweather is seen wearing the colours of Manchester United in a bid to get under the skin of Hatton, an avid supporter of local rivals Manchester City

Hatton entered the ring first to "Blue Moon", his usual entrance music, Mayweather however chose a change of music for his entrance. In the week prior to the fight sections of the media, largely the British media had hyped the fight as something of a Britain against America fight, comparing the fight to when Lloyd Honeyghan travelled to America to dethrone American Don Curry, then the undisputed world champion, this leading to Mayweather's decision to enter the ring to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A.". Shortly before the start of the match, the Hatton fans also repeatedly booed the American national anthem, drawing large criticism post-fight.[5]

The fight had 920,000 buys on HBO in the United States, and 1,150,000 buys in the United Kingdom on Sky Box Office.

The fight

Hatton tried to compete with Mayweather in the early rounds. In the first round Hatton caught Mayweather with a left jab which knocked Mayweather off balance.[6] His constant pressure appeared to make Mayweather uncomfortable at first, but soon gave way. In the third round, Mayweather landed a right that cut Hatton above the right eye.[7] In round six, referee Joe Cortez took a point away from Hatton after he threw punches at the back of Mayweathers' head when he was forced under the top rope.[8] Hatton became angry at the referee's decision to deduct a point from him and turned his back on him in frustration, shaking his bottom at Mayweather. Hatton would later claim that he had become angry by the referee and that had caused him to lose his calm and contributed to his downfall.[9] Hatton was able to hold his own, until round six, after Hatton got worn down from chasing Mayweather around the ring. Mayweather sensed the exhaustion of Hatton, and pursued Hatton's punches with stiff, damaging counterpunches. Mayweather was clearly in control before rocking Hatton in the 10th round. He knocked him down with a left hook, and Hatton was badly hurt. He looked disorientated when he got up, but referee Joe Cortez let the fight continue.

Mayweather wasted no time jumping on him again, landing a flurry of punches, including another left hook that sent Hatton staggering backward and down again. Cortez called off the fight at 1:35 without a count at the same time the white towel was thrown from Hatton's corner.[10] The fight received large amounts of publicity, with both fighters promoting the fight heavily.

Aftermath

Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing on June 6, 2008. He returned to the ring 15 months later to beat Juan Manuel Márquez by a 12-round unanimous decision. Mayweather went on to appear at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s No Way Out pay-per-view on February 17, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was involved in a storyline physical altercation with Big Show, which led to a match at WrestleMania XXIV.

Hatton defeated Juan Lazcano at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester on May 24, 2008[11] in a "thank-you" bout for the tremendous fan support he has received throughout his entire professional career. The last time Hatton fought in Manchester was back in 2005 against Kostya Tszyu. Hatton went on to fight Paul Malignaggi for the IBF light welterweight championship in November 2008. The fight was very one sided and Ricky won comfortably by way of TKO in the 11th round. Hatton would eventually lose to Manny Pacquiao via second-round KO and put his career on an indefinite hiatus. He eventually announced his retirement on 7 July 2011.

Undercard

Broadcasting

Country Broadcaster
 United Kingdom Sky Sports
 United States HBO

References

  1. ^ "Hatton Comfortable with Referee Joe Cortez". Archived from the original on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  2. ^ "The Pitts and King's parents". Laineygossip.com. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Hopkins-Calzaghe Confirmation soon". Rickyhitmanhatton2.com. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  4. ^ BEACHAM, GREG (8 December 2007). "Mayweather favored, but Hatton's the fan's choice". Seattlepi.com. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Boos for American national anthem put British fans to shame - Times Online". Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  6. ^ "Floyd Mayweather KOs Ricky Hatton | TheSweetScience.com Boxing". Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  7. ^ "Hatton v Mayweather: Round 3". News.bbc.co.uk. 9 December 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Mayweather Hatton: Floyd Mayweather Destroys Ricky Hatton". Boxing247.com. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  9. ^ "A second Mayweather beating is one to miss for Hit-Man Hatton - Sportingo". Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  10. ^ "Mayweather remains perfect with KO of Hatton". ESPN.com. 9 December 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  11. ^ "ITN online Hatton announces 'homecoming' fight". Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
Preceded by Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s bouts
December 8, 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ricky Hatton's bouts
December 8, 2007 		Succeeded by
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