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HBO PPV Recap

"Undefeated"

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton

December 8, 2007

MGM Grand-Las Vegas, Nevada

WBC/Ring Welterweight (147 pounds) and Title of Best Pound-for-Pound Boxer in the World 12-Round Championship Match:

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (38-0, 24 KO's, 147 pounds) (c) vs. Ricky Hatton (43-0, 31 KO's, 145 pounds)

Mayweather won this championship from Carlos Baldomir via unanimous decision on November 4, 2006 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The champion is making his first defense of this title.

Mayweather was a highly decorated amateur. He took home the bronze medal for the United States in boxing at 125 pounds in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympiad.

The champion has hired Carlos Baldomir to emulate Ricky Hatton in sparring in preparation for this match. Mayweather is coming into this match with chronic injuries to both hands. HBO showed him also getting treatment on an elbow, his left shoulder and back for accrued injuries from years of boxing.

The Las Vegas resident's last match was the well chronicled biggest money match in the history of sports. A 12-round split decision victory over De La Hoya at 154 pounds, on May 5, 2007 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. For that match Mayweather weighed 150 pounds on the official scales on Friday. No unofficial weights were given the day of the match, because even after eating breakfast Mayweather weighed 148 pounds by the time he entered the ring. De La Hoya was in the neighborhood of 160 pounds, when he entered the ring that night, to make Mayweather's win that night even more impressive.

Mayweather is The Ring Champion at 147 pounds, and ranked by the magazine as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

Hatton began his amateur career training and competing in karate and kick boxing (which created some great home movies for the HBO documentaries of him at 8-years-old), before transitioning to boxing.

The challenger has been training since Thanksgiving for this match at the new UFC headquarters in Las Vegas. During 24/7 some UFC competitors could be seen at times, but had their faces blurred out. Hatton is getting tips on how to beat Mayweather courtesy of Floyd Mayweather, Sr. Senior is relaying the tips on how to best work the body of Junior then go upstairs in phone calls several times a week to De La Hoya, who then passes them on to Hatton.

Hatton is healthy going into this match. The only concern for him is cuts. Hatton has a brawling style and has been known to bleed frequently in matches from head clashes. The repeated head clashes have created a lot of scar tissue on his face that can be opened up easier. However, that means Hatton has bled in matches so frequently it should no longer inhibit his performance. The only concern is if the referee would stop the match because of a bad cut.

The Manchester resident's last match was a knockout victory 2:16 into round 4 over Jose Luis Castillo via left hook to the liver at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Hatton is The Ring Champion at 140 pounds, and ranked by the magazine as the number 8 best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

Hatton at 29-years-old, is a year younger then the 30-year-old Mayweather. Mayweather has the height advantage standing 5' 8" tall, while Hatton stands 5' 6.5" tall. The champion has a massive reach advantage with a 26" arm length, compared to the challenger's 20" arm length. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The referee is Joe Cortez, who worked Hatton's last match and allowed the challenger to do a lot of holding. The assignment of this referee to the match could allow Hatton to turn the match into a brawl on the inside, which is the challenger's perceived game plan.

They are now showing famous people in attendance at the event and the list includes: Jude Law, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Tiger Woods, Will Ferrell, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, David Beckham, Jeremy Piven, Gwen Stefani, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Mayweather's associates from Dancing with the Stars are at the event Wayne Newton, Mark Cuban, Helio Castroneves, (sitting together)and Mario Lopez sitting separately with Mayweather's Dancing with the Stars dance partner, who worked with Lopez last season. There appears to be a dress code for all non-American celebrities, because they are all wearing very nice suits and ties. Some of the American celebrities could do better.

Mayweather chooses to take a play out of the Matt Hamill playbook for getting heat coming out before a British crowd. Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" plays Mayweather to the ring, and receives exactly the response Mayweather wanted. Walking behind the champion, and carrying his title belts, so they do not fit in 1 camera shot are his Dancing with the Stars cast mates Newton, Cuban, and Castroneves. Lampley is explaining that Mayweather is going to characterize this is a babyface move to stir up American patriotism for him.

Mayweather wins a great round 1, 10-9. Both boxers demonstrate a high level of skill and a struggle to control the distance of engagement. Lederman scores round 1 for Hatton, 10-9. With 1:50 to go in round 2, the referee stops the clock to warn both boxers to keep the match clean. At this point Mayweather appears to be developing some bruising on his right cheek, and Hatton may be beginning to bleed from his nose. This is the type of match Hatton wants/needs to win. With 31 seconds to go in round 2 the referee again calls timeout to issue a very stern warning about dirty tactics being used in this match. Both boxers are doing it, and points being taken away in this match could be critical. Hatton wins round 2, 10-9. Lederman scores round 2 for Mayweather, 10-9. With over 20 seconds left in round 3, a big cut has opened over the right eye of Hatton. It was probably caused by a punch. Mayweather wins round 3, 10-9, and leads the match on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 29-28. Lederman scores round 3 for Hatton, 10-9, and has Hatton winning the match after 3 rounds, 29-28. Hatton is talking to the referee a lot during the action, and it is diverting his attention from Mayweather.

Mayweather wins round 4 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Hatton behind constant pressure wins round 5, 10-9. In between rounds 5 and 6 the referee issues Mayweather his potential final warnings for holding Hatton's head, and using getting his elbow high and sticking it in Hatton's throat and face to help create distance in the clinch. With 1:58 to go in round 6, Hatton is deducted 1 point for hitting Mayweather in the back of the head. Hatton is furious about the deduction claiming that Mayweather created the foul by turning his back to Hatton. That may be true, but Hatton is getting out of control emotionally. When the match resumed Hatton turned his back to Mayweather, until the referee forced Hatton to turn back around. The challenger needs to get his emotions in check to box with pressure under control, rather then what he appears to be doing in the first few seconds just angrily rushing Mayweather and roughing up the champion without a game plan behind it. A back under control Hatton turns round 6 into an even round on Lederman and my scorecard, 9-9. The HBO commentators believe the point deduction on Hatton was a suspect call. After 6 rounds Mayweather leads on my scorecard, 57-56. Lederman has Hatton ahead after 6 rounds, 57-56.

Hatton wins round 7, 10-9. Lederman scores round 7 for Mayweather, 10-9. Mayweather wins round 8 big, 10-9. If there were a standing 8 count available the referee would have used it to help Hatton out in the last 30 seconds of the rounds. After round 8, the referee went to Hatton's corner to check on Hatton and warn of a potential stoppage if Hatton got in serious trouble again. Lederman scores round 8 for Mayweather, 10-9. The champion wins round 9 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. After 9 rounds Mayweather leads no my scorecard, 86-84. Lederman has the same total score for the match after 9 rounds.

A left hook from Mayweather sends Hatton crashing face first into the turnbuckle pad, and then to the mat with 1:58 to go in round 10. Hatton satisfactorily answers the referee's count. However, the challenger's legs are not fully back under control, when action resumes with 1:45 to go in the round. With 1:30 to go in round 10, Hatton pinned against the ropes and following another Mayweather left hook, the referee grabs Mayweather to save Hatton and end the contest. Hatton is so out of it, in an attempt to take a step to the side a few seconds after the final Mayweather punch, Hatton goes down to the canvas. This was an amazing performance by Mayweather, and a great performance by Hatton. The British crowd continues to sing the Hatton theme song, when their boxer gets off the canvas.

The official outcome from Michael Buffer is: 1:35 into round the winner by technical knockout, still pound-for-pound best boxer in the world, WBC and Ring Welterweight Champion of the World, "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather, Jr. The win moves Mayweather to 39-0, with 25 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers are not reflective of what actually happened in this match, because Mayweather put up huge connect numbers in rounds 8 through 10, and the rest of the match was more then punching alone, but more of a physical brawling style to break a boxer's stamina and will down over 12 rounds. Mayweather landed 129 of the 329 total punches he threw, for a 39% total connect percentage. Hatton landed 63 of the 372 total punches he threw, for a 17% total connect percentage. Hatton connected on both 17% of his jabs and power punches.

In Mayweather's post match interview he put over Hatton, and said he wants to be a promoter, now and not box for a while. Mayweather's last retirement lasted about 7 weeks, taking the under on this retirement is probably the better bet.

Hatton was very classy in his post match interview and said he will continue boxing, but hinted that his career will resume at 140 pounds.

The official scores at the time of the stoppage were all in favor of Mayweather: 89-81, 89-81, 88-82.

Mayweather has his choice of opponents at this point, except for De La Hoya who has ultimate say in the boxing world. This performance should clinch Mayweather's spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Mayweather says at a minimum he will not box again in 2008 or 2009. Hatton made Mayweather work very hard in this match, but a few weeks off and the promise of a good paycheck should bring someone who loves the spotlight that much back to the main event, soon.

This loss does almost no damage to Hatton. There is now no chance of a match between him and De La Hoya, which could have been made had Hatton lost a unanimous decision. Hatton pushed the pace, and made this match exciting. The obvious next opponent for Hatton is the winner of the Paulie Malignaggi vs. Herman Ngoudjo match on January 5 on Showtime. The winner of that match will possess the championship belt at 140 pounds Hatton never lost in the ring, and the favorite, Malignaggi, is very media friendly to help build up the event.

The main event of this show was great and will be replayed on December 15 on HBO and is worth watching.