BoxRec

By Chuck Johnson, USA TODAY
Pound-for-pound champ Floyd Mayweather and England's unbeaten junior welterweight Ricky Hatton are finalizing plans to fight Dec. 8 at a U.S. site to be determined on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Leonard Ellerbe, adviser to Mayweather, told USA TODAY that details will come with an official announcement as early as Monday.

"This is a great fight for the fans," Ellerbe said Friday. "We have two young unbeaten fighters, at the top of their game, from two different countries going against each other. It's what boxing needs."

Ellerbe applauded Hatton (43-0, 31 KOs) for taking the fight, which will be contested at the 147-pound welterweight limit, seven pounds more than Hatton's optimum weight as a junior welterweight.

"I never thought he would do it, but Ricky Hatton deserves credit for stepping up to the plate," Ellerbe said. "He asked for it and now he's going to get it. Floyd is a extremely excited. He wants to show Hatton that he's never fought at this level before. He's going to show him what it's like to step in the ring with the best fighter."

FIND MORE STORIES IN: HBO | Floyd | Hatton
Mayweather (38-0, 24 KOs) defeated Oscar De La Hoya on May 5 in the highest-grossing fight in history to capture the WBC super welterweight title, but Mayweather vacated that title to allow Vernon Forrest and Carlos Baldomir to fight for the belt Saturday in Tacoma, Wash.. (HBO, 10:15 p.m.).

Mayweather still holds the WBC and Ring Magazine welterweight belts, but it hasn't been determined if the fight against Hatton will be a title or non-title 12-round bout.

"Floyd's bigger than any belt," Ellerbe said."He doesn't need it because he's universally known as boxing's best fighter."

Mayweather, 30, announced he was retiring following the De La Hoya fight but he became motivated to get back into the ring after Hatton beat Jose Luis Castillo in an HBO-televised bout and issued a direct challenge to him.

"You saw more excitement in those four rounds than you've seen in Floyd's whole career," said Hatton, 28, who stopped Castillo in the fourth round with a left hook to the liver to defend the IBO junior welterweight crown. The Manchester, England, native also briefly held the WBA welterweight belt before going back down to 140.

Mayweather said Hatton's derisive statement was enough to bring him out of retirement.

"He got in front of the media and called my name out," Mayweather said. "He didn't think I was going to respond, but it doesn't work like that. I've accomplished too much in the sport for him to disrespect me."

On Dec. 8, Mayweather and Hatton will get a chance to work things out.

F**king hell, it's finally gonna happen.

The end of this year is gonna be incredible. Cotto/Mosley, Calzaghe/Kessler and now Hatton/Mayweather. Can't complain about that.

Great news!

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted Ricky.

Still slightly dubious how certain this announcement is. An interesting clash of styles that is very hard to pick.

Yep the best year of boxing for years, mega fights all the way, we've already had our share for the year

Don't want to be too sceptical but it say's it is still being finalised. I'll let out my shout of delight on Monday.

Great great news though. Cmon Ricky.

stujones wrote:Oh well, it was fun while it lasted Ricky.

While it lasted? As a Ricky Hatton critic I give him a good chance against Mayweather. But if he doesn't win at 147, he can still go back to 140 and rule the roost or maybe even have a series of fights with Mayweather.

Imagine if a Mayweather fight is close and exciting

ArtOfWar wrote:F**king hell, it's finally gonna happen.

The end of this year is gonna be incredible. Cotto/Mosley, Calzaghe/Kessler and now Hatton/Mayweather. Can't complain about that.

Great news!

Yeah it is fantastic news (although as my early post in this thread suggested cannot say I am looking forward to it too much as a Ricky fan).

you can add these cracking fights aswell.

Guzman vs Soto and Taylor vs Pavlik

stujones wrote:

ArtOfWar wrote:F**king hell, it's finally gonna happen.

The end of this year is gonna be incredible. Cotto/Mosley, Calzaghe/Kessler and now Hatton/Mayweather. Can't complain about that.

Great news!

Yeah it is fantastic news (although as my early post in this thread suggested cannot say I am looking forward to it too much as a Ricky fan).

you can add these cracking fights aswell.

Guzman vs Soto and Taylor vs Pavlik

Not to mention Witter-Harris, Haye-Mormeck, Pacman-Barrera 2, Tarver-Dawson, Diaz-Diaz, Marquez-Vazquez 2, Marquez-Barrios 2, Chageev-Ibragimov (well its HW unification)

2007 is the time to be a boxing fan, lets hope 2008 is as good

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

stujones wrote:Oh well, it was fun while it lasted Ricky.

While it lasted? As a Ricky Hatton critic I give him a good chance against Mayweather. But if he doesn't win at 147, he can still go back to 140 and rule the roost or maybe even have a series of fights with Mayweather.

Imagine if a Mayweather fight is close and exciting

Personally think that at 29 and with his style that Ricky will not be the same fighter after Floyd gives him a beating... and I am a Ricky fan and admirer of his ability. Its just Floyd is that good.

He will never have the same appeal, unless he proves me wrong. Even if he goes back to 140 it will only be thought of a devision in which he is the best of a bad bunch... and this will be unfair to his ability.

Well for me any puncher vs boxer fight will be exciting. For me, Mayweather's fights with Gatti and DLH were always exciting. Even in the masterclass that Floyd put on vs Gatti - there was always the hope that maybe Floyd would get careless and Gatti will tag him. Similarly, the way Floyd was running from DLH's misses made me think that "if DLH catches him clean, he is out of there". I never had the feeling vs Baldomir mind.

I think Ricky is better than he's given credit for, even by myself at times. I also think Ricky is better than DLH at the style that Oscar employed in his fight with PBF. All that remains to be seen now is whether he can pull that style off successfully at THIS level. Floyd is miles better than anyone Hatton has faced, so this is uncharted territory for him.

Just heard that Golden Boy might promote it, too.

That would be an absolute master stroke from both DLH and Pretty Boy.

"but it hasn't been determined if the fight against Hatton will be a title or non-title 12-round bout"

Will be fairly amusing if this is a non-title fight, can anyone think of a bigger non-title fight?

I give him a good chance. If Castillo - well schooled, accurate & slow - can trouble him with pressure, Hatton - well schooled, better balanced, fast and mobile - can torment Mayweather.

Mayweather right now is a great defensive fighter. Is he anything more at this stage? He's at the veteran stage and he just came out of an indulgent retirement.

Is being great defensively enough to deter Hatton?

Sure Floyd has beaten some elite fighters, but Castillo, Corrales, the Hernandez's etc aren't as good (or as big) as Hatton.

Hoping that Ricky puts the weight on right.

Whether Mayweather wins or loses, he will be in some uncomfortable moments. I hope he doesn't moan about holding - Ken Buchanan and SR Leonard had to put up with much holding with Duran.

This is great news. It's a fight that's impossible to predict, imo - although endless column inches will be taken up with attempts to do so. Some people will argue that Hatton's pressure and body punching will help him grind Mayweather down, others will argue that Hatton won't even be able to get close enough to Mayweather to land and will spend the night being picked off with lightning fast combinations from the outside.

Personally I would make Mayweather the favourite by about 60/40, but there is no doubt that a fully fit and focussed Hatton has the tools to cause the upset.

If Hatton CAN impose his style on Mayweather then it willl definitely be Mayweathers most exciting fight. How saleable is this fight? It has to be the biggest fight out there.

A 6 time world champ Vs a 4 time champ
A 5 weight champ Vs a 2 weight champ
Unbeaten Vs Unbeaten
Prime Vs Prime
USA Vs UK

Even the personalities are chalk and cheese. This will be the modern day Leobard - Duran in my view.

stujones wrote:Personally think that at 29 and with his style that Ricky will not be the same fighter after Floyd gives him a beating... and I am a Ricky fan and admirer of his ability. Its just Floyd is that good.
.

I thought Hatton looked at his best against Castillo whereas Mayweather didn't seem quite as good agaisnt Hoya, he looked much slower in terms of handspeed. Mayweather looked great defensively but after Gatti hasn't looked nearly quite as impressive. I think the extra muscle has slowed him down

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

stujones wrote:Personally think that at 29 and with his style that Ricky will not be the same fighter after Floyd gives him a beating... and I am a Ricky fan and admirer of his ability. Its just Floyd is that good.
.

I thought Hatton looked at his best against Castillo whereas Mayweather didn't seem quite as good agaisnt Hoya, he looked much slower in terms of handspeed. Mayweather looked great defensively but after Gatti hasn't looked nearly quite as impressive. I think the extra muscle has slowed him down

You could be right there.

What I want to see though is how Hatton handles the move up this time. Last time th emove up seemed to drain his stamina and if Hatton is to beat Mayweather he's going to need bags of stamina.

Cannibal wrote:

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

stujones wrote:Personally think that at 29 and with his style that Ricky will not be the same fighter after Floyd gives him a beating... and I am a Ricky fan and admirer of his ability. Its just Floyd is that good.
.

I thought Hatton looked at his best against Castillo whereas Mayweather didn't seem quite as good agaisnt Hoya, he looked much slower in terms of handspeed. Mayweather looked great defensively but after Gatti hasn't looked nearly quite as impressive. I think the extra muscle has slowed him down

You could be right there.

What I want to see though is how Hatton handles the move up this time. Last time th emove up seemed to drain his stamina and if Hatton is to beat Mayweather he's going to need bags of stamina.

Hatton will get time to prepare his move up this time, not the fiasco that was Collazo..

I have no idea who wins this but once again, it puts Calzaghe in the shade

Just read on the BBC and Ray Hatton is quoted that the fight has been agreed in principal.

Good times indeed.

The fight may be made 'in principle' but thats when the real work comes in, fees, PPV rights...

Look how long it took Calzaghe-Kessler to be made..

Lets all get our fingers crossed

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

stujones wrote:Personally think that at 29 and with his style that Ricky will not be the same fighter after Floyd gives him a beating... and I am a Ricky fan and admirer of his ability. Its just Floyd is that good.
.

I thought Hatton looked at his best against Castillo whereas Mayweather didn't seem quite as good agaisnt Hoya, he looked much slower in terms of handspeed. Mayweather looked great defensively but after Gatti hasn't looked nearly quite as impressive. I think the extra muscle has slowed him down

It will weigh Floyd down and this is the fight for it to make him pay. Many great fighters end up taking the wrong fight.

Hatton gets smashed to bits in under 7 rounds.

Floyd might not be the fighter he was at 140 fighting at 147 or 154 - but then his performances vs Baldomir, Mitchell and Judah were far better than Ricky's vs Collazo.

Ricky looked electric vs Castillo at 140... cannot dispute this, but again I believe Floyd's speed will return should the fight be at 140.

I think at 147 Floyd wins 100%, if at 140 it might be more interesting cause Floyd will have to shift 8 lbs of muscle.

I think part of the reason why Floyd didn't look so great vs DLH was because DLH is an all time great fighter himself with fast hands (faster than Ricky's IMO).

I would love Hatton to do him... but I fear a systematic beating, maybe not of Gatti vs Mayweather proportions - but close. Floyd is a much better fighter than the one handed fighter who "struggled" vs Castillo.

6 weeks to move up to Welter wasnt enough!! Im sure Ricky would be much more prepared this time, even if he doesnt win..

Just a thought, does anyone think Mayweather may be slowing down a little, not due to his weight but his age???

On Hatton-DLH...Hatton has far better footwork and stamina thanOscar, yet Oscar won by 1 point on my card

Hatton can win this fight, no doubt IF it gets made

thepocketrocket wrote:6 weeks to move up to Welter wasnt enough!! Im sure Ricky would be much more prepared this time, even if he doesnt win..

Just a thought, does anyone think Mayweather may be slowing down a little, not due to his weight but his age???

On Hatton-DLH...Hatton has far better footwork and stamina thanOscar, yet Oscar won by 1 point on my card

Hatton can win this fight, no doubt IF it gets made

I think Ricky has better Footwork than Oscar up close, but not sure he has better footwork than Oscar when cutting down the ring. Since Tszyu its been just straightlines and using his strength to "barge" through the punches.... against Collazo it almost cost him (did on my card). Ricky is excellent at turning from a clinch, adjusting and transfering his balance to make it a body attack. However, Collazo and Tszyu were practically catching him at will coming in, and the slower fighters Maussa, Urango and Castillo - were catching him a bit too frequently also.

Floyd I fear, will just repeatedly hit, hit and hit Hatton that eventually he will bust up and stop Ricky. If Collazo can hurt Ricky, and Mayweather can hurt DLH (and make Baldomir think), then Hatton might not easily walk through Mayweather.