Hatton vs. Mayweather: a Tribute

By Boxing News - 02/10/2013 - Comments

By Craig Hilton: Every few years a fight comes along that captures the enthusiasm of the masses: Ricky Hatton vs. Floyd Mayweather generated massive interest in boxing on both sides of the Atlantic. This article has been written as a tribute to my favourite fight of all time, offering a review with more insight and analysis.

In my opinion, Mayweather was at the peak of his powers in this fight. He executed his game plan brilliantly, bursting into attacks with precision punching whilst nullifying the effectiveness of Hatton’s inside game. Mayweather put on a superb show for boxing fans and the general public in what Sky Sports commentator Jim Watt called: ‘a boxing exhibition’.

The build up and HBO 24/7 series was brilliant; the trainers and fighters offering contrasting styles and characteristics. In Hatton’s corner, Billy Graham allowed viewers to see the training techniques that had moulded Hatton into a world champion. The body and heavy bag seemed to be the predominant forms of training whilst Mayweather was often seen doing some technical mittwork or hitting the double end bag. The 24/7 series brought boxing fans’ excitement to the boil.

Mayweather said he wouldn’t lose to a man without a jab and Hatton –being the shorter man with a reach of 65” as compared to Mayweather’s 72” – was never going to land many of them. Ricky was never going to stand in front of Mayweather and find his range with the jab. Instead, Hatton used his deft footwork to take Mayweather out of his comfort zone. Ricky has a generation of football players in his family and was gifted with great balance and footwork. Before the fight, Mayweather was a contestant in Dancing with the Stars: he was aware that he needed to improve his foot speed in preparation for the fight.

Hatton landed his best punch of the fight in the first round. After manoeuvring Mayweather into an uncomfortable position, he landed a screw shot up the middle from a crouched position. Mayweather restored his defences but seemed perturbed by Hatton’s relentless style and the booming noise generated by his army of followers. Hatton was warned for hitting behind the head in this round; an action that was to have important repercussions later in the fight. The referee, Joe Cortez, seemed intent on making it a very clean fight and often broke up the action before it could be determined if the two fighters were going to throw punches.

It seemed that Hatton put a lot of his energies into the early rounds; charging in at a fast pace. Floyd used the ring size to great effect, catching him with quick fire shots and not allowing Hatton the opportunity to set himself. Mayweather used ‘rapier like’ right hand leads and quick left hooks in an attempt to keep Hatton at bay early on. We did not see many jabs from Mayweather at this stage in the fight; I think Mayweather was well aware of Hatton’s toughness and that he did not have sufficient power in his jab to stop him in his tracks. Mayweather would often lead with the right hand and throw himself into Hatton after landing the shot, draining Hatton’s strength in being held up. Most importantly, Floyd limited the opportunities for Ricky to land his trademark left hook.

As the fight entered the middle rounds, Mayweather warmed to the inside game and it became a dirty fight. Leading up to this fight, Hatton had dominated most of his opponents on this inside – knocking out Jose Luis Castillo in the fourth round with a body shot – and became frustrated when he was not having success in this area. Becoming increasingly annoyed, Hatton attempted to hit Mayweather behind the head in the sixth and Joe Cortez deducted a point for this illegal shot. In drawing this illegal shot, Mayweather had taken Ricky’s aggression and used it against him.

Floyd did not land big sweeping hooks on the inside but precision shots mixed with well-timed uppercuts. It was an uppercut that momentarily stunned Hatton in round eight and invited Mayweather to burst into another of his attacks, landing shots to the body. Mayweather burst into another attack in the last minute of the round, hitting Ricky with a double left hook that threw him into the corner of the ring. This shot left Ricky stunned and exposed to a flurry of shots. Whilst Hatton was having limited success on the inside, Floyd was landing clean and effective precision shots, tiring Hatton in the heat of the MGM Grand.

Hatton’s source of strength was being sapped and he did not have the head movement to avoid Mayweather’s attacks. Hatton was never seen refining his head movement on a slip bag like fighters such as Mike Tyson, and his reliance on traditional forms of training were beginning to take their toll. At 140 pounds, Ricky took a few shots but used his strength and toughness to bully guys around. Although Ricky was a hitman at 140 pounds, he did not have the same knock out power at 147 pounds. Therefore, as the fight wore on and Mayweather matched Ricky for strength, Hatton’s limited skill set became exposed. Mayweather had a half smile playing round his lips in the ninth round as he manoeuvred Hatton round the ring whilst peppering him with quick fire jabs. Hatton was desperately tired and mentally fatigued by this stage. His frustration boiled over in the tenth as he threw a gung-ho shot and was knocked out by a classy check hook.

Hatton and Mayweather deserve a huge amount of credit for the show that they put on, before and during the fight. Although Hatton had some success early on with his foot speed, Mayweather shut down Hatton’s main potential avenue of success: the inside game. Hatton also lacked any real power at 147 pounds and Mayweather drained his strength successfully.

After the fight, Ricky quickly went back down to 140 pounds, perhaps feeling that he did not have the strength to compete at 147 pounds. For Mayweather, 2007 had been a hugely successful year with wins over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Clearly the two fights took a lot out of Floyd and he decided to take two years’ off after the win against Hatton. I hope this article has provided a fond reflection on one of the great super fights. For me, Mayweather was at the peak of powers when he beat Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. If Floyd does doesn’t fight Manny Pacquiao, I think boxing fans will remember him most for his achievements in 2007.



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