It's Official: Mayweather and Hatton Sign Contracts To Fight

[JT1967]

Graham just signed Hattons life away...47-1 is what he will be...

Mayweather-Gatti = Mayweather-Hatton..

How on earth can you compare Gatti to Hatton is beyond me. Hatton is a lineal champion who soundly beat one of the great LWW of all time. He won one of the major belts at 147 already (UD for Hatton whether you like it or not). Gatti never had half the talent Hatton has.

If it turns into a slugfest becuse of the genuine hatred for eachother then the fight is a coin toss. Hatton could badly hurt PBF as PBF could cut Hatton up. The smart money WILL be a PBF UD (he does not KO many these days at higher weights, he is a small guy like Hatton) The good chance for an upset is a middle round stoppage for Hatton before he runs out of gas late on.

[The Monk]

It's interesting how the Hatton hate has gone from "he is ducking Floyd, he doesn't really want the fight" to "he's going to get beat up worse than Gatti". Come on. Sure, he may lose, but it's just plain DUMB to say it will be worse than Gatti. Stop the HATE. Sheesh.

Yeah this is what really pisses me off, some people refuse to give boxers credit ever. Hatton has done what many posters thought he would never do and signed to fight Floyd. So why can't the haters take a break from they're hating and actually give the guy some credit.

[kerrminator]

Its not how hard or how often you hit someone to the body, its where you hit them and placing the shots to the body is what Hatton does best.

Floyd is superquick though and it wont be easy to break him down so this is gonna be a cracker imo.

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

How on earth can you compare Gatti to Hatton is beyond me. Hatton is a lineal champion who soundly beat one of the great LWW of all time. He won one of the major belts at 147 already (UD for Hatton whether you like it or not). Gatti never had half the talent Hatton has.

If it turns into a slugfest becuse of the genuine hatred for eachother then the fight is a coin toss. Hatton could badly hurt PBF as PBF could cut Hatton up. The smart money WILL be a PBF UD (he does not KO many these days at higher weights, he is a small guy like Hatton) The good chance for an upset is a middle round stoppage for Hatton before he runs out of gas late on.

I swear on the intricately manicured eyebrows of Miguel Cotto: at some point before Hatton's corner throws in the towel or before the referee or ring doctor stops it, this fight will become Gatti-esque.

Just as Hatton starts to tire badly in the middle rounds, and has become a bit leaden-legged from all the hard shorts upstairs, and is puffy and bleeding, this bout will look like a complete mismatch.

I'm predicting a very merciful round 9 stoppage.

Side question: what made Tszyu one of the greatest SLW's of all time?

[JJay]

"I've known for about a week that it's going to be happening but now it's on," Graham told Sky Sports News.


"It's fantastic, it's a dream come true for Ricky. He's beaten everything that's been put in front of him.


"He became the undisputed best light welterweight in the world, which was always are target - and even better than that we took it off a legend in Kostya Tzu.


"Now it gets even better because you've got a guy who's generally regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, it just doesn't get any better than that."


A concern for many is that Hatton has to step up from his preferred light-welterweight to welterweight - with him struggling to win against Luis Collazo in his one previous fight at that weight.


Graham would prefer Hatton at his natural weight, but his confidence is such that even the return to 147lbs will not stop Hatton achieving his dream.


"We've got to fight at 147," confirmed Graham.


"Ricky Hatton is a 140lb fighter, he's a light welterweight but Floyd isn't that big a guy. He's not really that much bigger than Ricky. Me personally I'd rather him fight at 140 but 147, that'll do.


"We've got more warning that we're moving up than we had last time. When we had the Collazo fight it was real quick, we had other opponents who pulled out for various reasons and we made the quick decision to move up from light welterweight.


"Ricky made some mistakes after the weigh-in but we've learned from that fight and this time it'll be much better.


"Floyd Mayweather is a fantastic fighter, he's blindingly fast, he can hit a lot harder than people think. Trust me, Floyd Mayweather will be able to punch, he's a great all-rounder.


"But we'll be up for the challenge and as far as I'm concerned Ricky is going to win."


Mayweather has been tempted out of retirement for the fight, and en extra edge to the contest will be both men putting their super undefeated records on the line, and Graham is expecting a victory to confirm Hatton's place amongst the greats.


"I've said for a long time that Ricky is the best pound-for-pound to come out of Great Britain, ever. When he beats Floyd Mayweather everyone will agree with me.


"What makes this fight so special is that you've got two undefeated fighters who are both at the peak of their career, it's very rare that you get that, usually someone's on the slide a little bit.


Mayweather and his camp have already started the 'trash talk', and it is sure to intensify as December approaches, but Graham says Hatton will be keeping his usual cool.


"Its like water off a ducks back, it will not bother Ricky or myself at all. The coaches are the same they're disrespecting people all the time but it means nothing to me and means nothing to him.


"We're both confident, I think Ricky's the best fighter in the world, Ricky thinks he's the best fighter in the world, now all we have to do is prove it.


"But its going to be a fantastic fight - it'll be the fight in boxing.


"He's a huge star in Vegas, we have got the best fans in the world without a shadow of a doubt, to travel all that way to support him.


"The fans deserve this fight. Ricky feels at home in Vegas, no problem at all, it might as well be the MEN."

[kenshin112]

Good K to you for Ali's second quote in your sig.

He is.
Romans 1:16-18

cheers man
does neone now when tickets r avaliable for this fight

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

Great, now we have a countdown to Hatton's first L. BTW, I think Hatton quits on his stool in the 11th round out of frustration. Hatton will do a "No Mas" a-la Freitas.

I think Hatton's corner calls it quits in 9th/10th.

[adamk1304]

I'd be more convinced that mayweather could stop hatton if it wasn't for the baldomir fight. Mayweather had a punching bag with arms in there with him that night and didn't have him in serious trouble at any point.

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

I'd be more convinced that mayweather could stop hatton if it wasn't for the baldomir fight. Mayweather had a punching bag with arms in there with him that night and didn't have him in serious trouble at any point.

Mike Tyson and a Mack truck aren't taking Baldo out.

The Vernon Forrest shots that put Shane on his ass didn't faze Baldo.

Gatti, Judah, Mayweather and Forrest have all tried to tee off on that titanium dome that Carlito has. TaTa isn't the best example.

[SpeedKillz]

IMO, the only difference between this fight and the gatti fight, is that hatton will go longer than 6 rounds.