By Edward Chaykovsky
Manchester legend Ricky Hatton was among the many who was disappointed by the May 2nd "Fight of the Century" between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather won a twelve round unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Hatton faced both fighters during his career. He was stopped by Mayweather in ten rounds in 2007 and got knocked out in two rounds by Pacquiao in 2009. He retired afterwards the Pacquiao loss and made a brief comeback a few years later.
He felt the lack of action hurt boxing, because finally there was a fight that was back in the public eye and it didn't deliver. Hatton also said the credibility of the night was hurt even further when Pacquiao revealed that he injured his right shoulder prior to the contest.
"It was damaging for the sport. I can't imagine there is anyone out there saying they loved it. Considering they're two all-time greats, the money they walked away with, what the fans had to pay, it was all a bit of a letdown. Then when Manny blamed his defeat on a shoulder injury, it soured it even further," Hatton told BBC Sport.
"Boxing has UFC (The Ultimate Fighting Championship) breathing heavily down its neck and it was the first boxing match that had crossed over into the mainstream for a long time, so we needed it to be exceptional. But there were more negatives than positives."