Tonights Boxing

[Bronson]

As a huge boxing fan i'm really looking forward to tonights fights. Amir Khan should provde a decent warm up for the main event. I have been follwing the build up to the Hatton/Mayweather fights for long enough.

Did anyone else see the scuffles at the weigh in today? Hatton didn't back down and it looks like he wants this so mch. Mayweather looked a bit shellshocked.

It was amusing too to see Joe Calzaghe and bernard Hopkins scuffling.

Here's hoping i can stay awake for the fight (believe it should be a 2 am start uk time).

I'm going for Hatton by K.O with left hook to body in round 4!

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

That is the only way Ricky is going to win Brosnon - Mayweather is a slow starter and Ricky has to explode - If he is going to do it - it has to be Round 4 or 5 - if it goes past that it could be a points decision or stopped on cuts.

[Bronson]

What a waste of time that fight was - over in 72 seconds!! Khan is obviously a talent, but fight fans who buy tickets to see him are going to lose interest unless they start providing some decent match ups for him.

[Caleyjag]

Bronson,

5 Live are doing commentary on the fight live from 4am so I hope its not a 2am start!!

[Bronson]

:029: 5hit. Are you sure? I got my times from the sky digital website. If your right, i guess i'll just forget about watching it live and catch the re-run at 0900.

[TSTtiger]

aye fight on about 4 maybe a bit before.

hope hatton does it but think  mayweather will get the call on points

that khan fight was a joke. wtf . i flicked over just before the start and missed it  :crazy07:

[clacher_holiday2]

100% deserved victory for Mayweather, totally different class to Hatton tonight

I'm glad I stayed up for that and I'm glad the ********s who followed Hatton spent fortunes to watch it, lost my support as soon as they boo'd the US national anthem, even though I thought it was funny.

[CaleyD]

I'm no boxing fan, but I was listening to the talk about it on the radio all night and they had a bookmaker on who seemed just a little too happy that so many people were throwing their money at Hatton.  Had intended to stick a few quid on Mayweather based on that fact alone, but by the time I got in at 3am I'd forgotten about it  :029:

[broomie boy]

bed at 12 , up at 3 expecting an early fight, lasted till the 8th round and crashed out about 5.30 ish, then alarm woke me up at 6 for work...im just glad i never saw him getting lethered.

hatton is a good fighter but the bottom line is that it was a mistake for Ricky to step up in weight, it's too much to expect him to do that and to compete with one of the worlds greatest fighters.

im away to find a desk to sleep under for a while

[Johnboy]

I was delighted to hear he got his come-uppance, he's such an irritating little git, with one of these Mancunian accents that gets right on your t!ts...

Thanks Mayweather....  :022:

[tm4tj]

Had some people round at mine for the boxing  In fact it was quite some day all in.  I was there to see Marius score his first SPL goals, thats something for the grandchildren.............emm well anyones grandchildren then.  Wee drinky pre-match, beat Hibs 2-0 pint in the Kessock on the way home, live band playing in my house, yes live band, three piece rock band and brilliant they were too, well done for your first gig Chris Iain and big Jimmy also heard the best voice ever, a Swede salled Sophie playing and singing Mad World..........absolutely awesome......this girl MUST get herself a record deal......Dave did some sliding blues, superb jamming even Zogg gave us a few monkey songs, lots of refreshments, good craic, everyone stayed awake to watch the fight, Hatton got taken out, what a punch, he was lifted off his feet by that one and got a good old fashioned doing from a brilliant boxer, started to get erm ahem tired around half six in the morning, then off to bed to wait for the hangover.

Yep, it was a great day. And it was my burffday too. :021:

[caley100]

Aye...easy when the missus is away for the weekend eh! -  did ya get the mess cleaned up?

[tm4tj]

All done for me when I woke up, cheers Michele, Laura and Bob, and anyone else who helped, thanx.

[Scotty]

TBH - had no interest in this fight till I saw it mentioned on here ... then watched the buil up on TV where they had a documentary about Hatton and Mayweather for about 90 minutes before the fight

After watching the documentary, I was so wanting Hatton to win as Mayweather came across as an arrogant, spoiled and over-privileged w***** !!! You cannot doubt the man's skill as a fighter, nor what he has achieved, (even if I do draw the line at agreeing with his assertion that he is better than both Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson) but he came across as thoroughly unlikeable.

Took me a while to figure it out but he put me in mind of Apollo Creed in the Rocky films .... the documentary showed Hatton (Rocky) doing his training in Manchester in the typical inner city setting, being very family oriented, popping in to see his mum for tea etc and talking with the real star of the documentary, his trainer ..... then it would cut to Mayweather (Creed), in one of his fleet of expensive cars (Ferrari Spider, Bentley GT, Rolls Royce Phantom, Merc SL600, Merc S600 (x8), Maybach etc) or trundling around his house on a "Segway Stroller" and talking very arrogantly about his money.... even the doormat as you entered the house was labelled "Money Mayweather" .....

Had to watch the fight over P2P though ... it was $55 PPV over here !

[Charles Bannerman]

What a terrible indictment it is of the Great British Public that, of the three BBC Sports Personality prizewinners, two should represent an activity where the main aim is to bludgeon your opponent into a state of incapacity and insensibility! Should this activity really have any place in a civilised society? One of these men, who had been "fighting" the night before, even appeared at the awards presentation with a badly cut face, presumably as a result of what he had been doing. What kind of message and role model does this convey to youngsters?

I find it bizarre that absurd Political Correctness can dominate our daily lives to a ridiculous extent but yet this thuggery still seems to be acceptable.

NB - this post, to which I don't expect a particularly positive response, is NOT a windup!

[+The_Sponge]

The likes of Hatton, Khan etc are great examples to their communities & something to aspire to. Young people from deprived backgrounds go to their local club, keep fit, learn discipline & don't wander the streets mugging old ladies.

[Bronson]

Entitled to your opinion Charles. As someone who has boxed and kickboxed i totally respect the level of commitment and effort that boxers put into their sport. It may not be to everyone's liking and that is fair dos.

I could say that i find running the most boring and pointless sport to watch, but that doesn't give me the right to criticise those who partake and enjoy spectating.

Boxing is a sport that undoubtedly requires people to show a great deal of composure,control and skill and without a doubt it has helped to transform the lives of many troubled men. The training alone is a trmendous release, and perhaps Charles you should spend a few weeks at Lawries boxing club and witness first hand the effort, support and achievemnet this sport gives to many of all ages, sexes and sizes.

That said, i felt Hatton was simply taken apart by a world class fighter. The big bucks were too appealing for Hatton to refuse this fight. He should return to light welterweight (his natural fighting weight) and continue his career in the divisoin he belongs. There may not be the same big names and mega bucks fights but money shouldn't be everything. I hope he ignores the advice of lennox lewis (the worlds worst ever heavyweight champion) to retire unless he has re match and beats mayweather.

And well done to Hatton and joe calzaghe on their awards at the weekend. Well deserved. 

[Johnboy]

That's an excellent post, Bronson... you defend your sport commendably, but to take up Charles's point there has been several instances where boxers have suffered brain damage, or worse, resulting from this "noble" sport.

I wouldn't like to see it banned, but I would like to see it fought in such a way that participants wore head and body protection, in the hope that permanent damage would become a thing of the past.

Referrees and judges could still award points to decide the winner of a bout - pretty much as they do now.

Agree with your comments on running - just has to be the most boring sport of all to watch....

[Charles Bannerman]

There is a distinction between individual preference, which is a matter of personal taste, and the fundamental which is the unacceptability of one human being battering another on the head until one of them has been incapacitated to the extent he is no longer able to stand. (And if neither succeeds, declare a "winner" on the basis of the "artistic merit" with which their respective attempts to do so were made!)

I don't particularly like watching certain types of "running" (I'm not sure whether that's to be taken literally or has been used as an uninformed simplification of the sport of athletics) myself and American football is - to me but not to those who like it - simply the most tedious activity on the planet. There are other activities which I do like and which others may or may not, and that is all a matter of personal preference.

But there is something fundamentally uncivilised about boxing, and that is even before you look at the state of the face of the chap who got that award on TV on Sunday night. It is also before you begin to consider what Johnboy quite rightly highlights in terms of damage to the inside of the head.

In addition, I reject the "apologist" (and slightly patronising) viewpoint that boxing "does an awful lot of good for these poor lads in deprived communities." There are plenty of other methods of diverting boys from "mugging old ladies" than encouraging them to mug each other.

[+The_Sponge]

Charles, I find your comments directed at my post patronising - you 'reject the apologist' viewpoint - well it must be wrong then...