4.45 am Sunday our time, I set the bedside alarm and I’m waiting, the razzmatazz now stops and the serious business of a boxing bout is ready to start. Hatton no longer struts and Mayweather no longer postures, in place of that there is a grudging respect between them because they both know what they are about to do, they both understand and acknowledge this. This is their world, their private world despite an audience of millions.
No one puts on a show like the Americans and I hate the glitz, I find it demeaning when guys like these are about to put their wellbeing on the line but it’s now part of the ’show’ I spoke to a friend whom I bumped into on Sat. who was a handy amateur boxer and I asked his opinion, to my delight he agreed with me without prompting, it would be Mayweather but it would be a war. He went better than me and showed me his betting slip which said Floyd in the tenth so he will be a happy man.
With every opening round that ended with Floyd still standing Hatton’s chances receded, Floyd proved that he could rumble as well as box like a potent ghost, Ricky ran into several spots of trouble before the inevitable happened. His mighty heart drove him forward on to a thundering left hook which saw him stagger blindly into the corner pads and go down, inevitably he stood up for more but mercifully it soon stopped with him down again.
The camera mercilessly closed on him and the look in his eyes was pitiful, once again I decided that boxing should be banned but I’ve been here many times and it’s like a drug. The real Floyd emerged then as a true champion, full of praise for his brave opponent and talking sense at last without the hype which, unfortunately IMO degrades the sport.
A real genuine championship fight which did it’s bit to return boxing to it‘s former glory, unfortunately the down side was that earlier the Khan fight damaged it with an opponent who didn’t turn up, the punters should have got their money back.
Two complaints though, Ricky should not have said that Mayweather was guilty of cheating, I’m sure he’ll regret saying that. And lastly The hysterical partisan screeching from Jim Watt at ringside was a complete embarrassment, can’t they find someone with a bit more decorum ?
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