Boxing News - Latest Headlines

In the final press conference which took place yesterday, both Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton got into a brief shoving contest after being asked to stand face to face with each other. Like in previous occasions, Mayweather, 30, used the opportunity to talk to Hatton and try to intimidate him. After a minute or two, Mayweather appeared to bump Hatton with his chest, at which point Hatton bumped him back, causing Mayweather to go wild, shouting “Don’t touch me, don’t touch me.” Both fighters were then pulled apart, with Mayweather seeming incredibly angry like he wanted to get at Hatton.

For his part, Hatton calmly smiled back, taking his finger and running it across his neck, signaling that Mayweather is dead meat. Of all the press conferences, it appears to be the first that Hatton has gotten under Mayweather’s skin, as in all of the previous conferences, it’s been Mayweather whom has done all the talking, while Hatton has remained quiet, saying very little while taking repeated verbal abuse from Mayweather.

Afterwards, Hatton had this to say about the confrontation with Mayweather: “He leaned on me a little bit, I just leaned back on him and he spat his dummy out,” Hatton said. “The fight is two days away now and I’ve done my laughing and joking. When I leaned back on him he said, ‘don’t touch me, don’t touch me’. I gave him a bit of a ‘you’re dead’ gesture. If he’s upset at that, just wait until the bell rings.”

Clearly, Hatton, 29, has finally come out of his silent mode, letting Mayweather know that he’s ready for action. The press conference seemed to shock Mayweather, who perhaps thought he had Hatton scared because of his lack of aggression until now, and with his shoving episode, it seemed as if Mayweather was slightly out of sorts and not sure what to think of it.