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Couldnt believe what i was reading, was surfing ricky hatton's forum for a quick laugh and i wasnt disappointed.
I have to vent my frustrations, but you don't have to read them.
OK, the basics:
Mayweather is undefeated, a super athlete and the pound for pound best fighter in the world. He dominates opponents and forces the tempo of the fight to suit him. He also has an ego that hardly fits into a stadium and thinks the sun rises and sets in his ass.
Hatton is the undefeated British champion. He's afraid of no one. He's fast, tricky, and throws punches from the second the round starts, until the second it stops. He's a regular guy who hangs out at the pub with his buddies and hasn't let fame go to his head.
I (and everyone watching the fight at my place) had the first 3 rounds for Hatton, two for Mayweather, another two for Hatton, then round 8 Mayweather and 9 for Hatton.
Then, in round 10 it happened. Hatton walked straight into a left hook that caught him perfectly on the chin, and he went down. He got up, but went back down just as fast.
Hatton made the same mistake all night. He came straight in and took a couple punches before closing the distance and taking control again.
He lost because of predictably. He gave Mayweather the same opening continuously, although it took Mayweather 10 rounds to do anything with it.
Hatton lost, but it was his fight until that moment. Yes, I realize he was KO'ed, but he did several significant things that are critical in winning a fight, and that had nobody has done successfully against Mayweather before.
1. He wasn't intimidated by Mayweather. Floyd wasn't his usual flamboyant self. He looked concerned. Hatton looked eager. That is 180 degrees from the norm.
2. Hatton challenged the odds. ESPN polls showed Hatton at 35% odds. Normally Mayweather is the 90% favorite.
3. Hatton nearly dropped him in round 1. Demanding early respect for power, technique and speed. Mayweather respects no other fighters, normally.
4. Hatton dictated the tempo of the fight. This is key, and has a psychological effect as well as a psychical. Mayweather said he would control the tempo. Hatton took that from him.
5. Mayweather didn’t have an answer - Hatton made Mayweather change from his jabbing & dancing style to pot shots and clinching. This is the first time I have seen Mayweather change his style, and I have seen all of his fights for the last 7 years.
6. The KO was a lucky, desperation punch for two reasons: 1.) Hatton walked through hooks all night, unphased. 2.) It landed perfectly, and caught Hatton off balance.
7. The fight was bull**** for 3 reasons:
- The Ref was biased – The Ref didn’t call Mayweather for holding Hatton’s arm or pushing his head back in the clinches, or using his elbows inside. BUT HE DID TAKE a point from Hatton for hitting behind the head with a graze.
- The post fight news is ignoring the significances I have pointed out above, and some (Dan Rafael, ESPN Boxing) have even said Mayweather DOMINATED the fight! What?! I don’t know what fight Dan was watching, but in the fight I saw Hatton won the majority of the rounds and bullied Mayweather, who spent the night searching for an answer...
- Last night Hatton showed the soft underbelly of Mayweather, a fighter tells the world he is invincible, and most think is. Next time… if Mayweather will go for a next time… Mayweather could very well be the one going down... its only a matter of time.
OK, the basics:
Mayweather is undefeated, a super athlete and the pound for pound best fighter in the world. He dominates opponents and forces the tempo of the fight to suit him. He also has an ego that hardly fits into a stadium and thinks the sun rises and sets in his ass.
Hatton is the undefeated British champion. He's afraid of no one. He's fast, tricky, and throws punches from the second the round starts, until the second it stops. He's a regular guy who hangs out at the pub with his buddies and hasn't let fame go to his head.
I (and everyone watching the fight at my place) had the first 3 rounds for Hatton, two for Mayweather, another two for Hatton, then round 8 Mayweather and 9 for Hatton.
Then, in round 10 it happened. Hatton walked straight into a left hook that caught him perfectly on the chin, and he went down. He got up, but went back down just as fast.
Hatton made the same mistake all night. He came straight in and took a couple punches before closing the distance and taking control again.
He lost because of predictably. He gave Mayweather the same opening continuously, although it took Mayweather 10 rounds to do anything with it.
Hatton lost, but it was his fight until that moment. Yes, I realize he was KO'ed, but he did several significant things that are critical in winning a fight, and that had nobody has done successfully against Mayweather before.
1. He wasn't intimidated by Mayweather. Floyd wasn't his usual flamboyant self. He looked concerned. Hatton looked eager. That is 180 degrees from the norm.
2. Hatton challenged the odds. ESPN polls showed Hatton at 35% odds. Normally Mayweather is the 90% favorite.
3. Hatton nearly dropped him in round 1. Demanding early respect for power, technique and speed. Mayweather respects no other fighters, normally.
4. Hatton dictated the tempo of the fight. This is key, and has a psychological effect as well as a psychical. Mayweather said he would control the tempo. Hatton took that from him.
5. Mayweather didn’t have an answer - Hatton made Mayweather change from his jabbing & dancing style to pot shots and clinching. This is the first time I have seen Mayweather change his style, and I have seen all of his fights for the last 7 years.
6. The KO was a lucky, desperation punch for two reasons: 1.) Hatton walked through hooks all night, unphased. 2.) It landed perfectly, and caught Hatton off balance.
7. The fight was bull**** for 3 reasons:
- The Ref was biased – The Ref didn’t call Mayweather for holding Hatton’s arm or pushing his head back in the clinches, or using his elbows inside. BUT HE DID TAKE a point from Hatton for hitting behind the head with a graze.
- The post fight news is ignoring the significances I have pointed out above, and some (Dan Rafael, ESPN Boxing) have even said Mayweather DOMINATED the fight! What?! I don’t know what fight Dan was watching, but in the fight I saw Hatton won the majority of the rounds and bullied Mayweather, who spent the night searching for an answer...
- Last night Hatton showed the soft underbelly of Mayweather, a fighter tells the world he is invincible, and most think is. Next time… if Mayweather will go for a next time… Mayweather could very well be the one going down... its only a matter of time.
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