The biggest boxing fight on the schedule is set for December 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It's a battle of undefeated welterweights when Ricky Hatton (43-0, 31 KOs) fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. (38-0, 24 KOs) for the WBC Welterweight championship.
HBO began airing their '24/7' series Sunday night. The series follows Mayweather and Hatton in their training and personal lives heading into the big showdown.
A column at
HBO Boxing looks at what's one the line besides the championship gold: "
For Hatton, an upset victory over the unbeaten, consensus pound-for-pound champ cements his reputation as a super star.
It also wins him a lottery ticket to fight De La Hoya next May. With the double digits millions he will make on this fight, and an even bigger purse to fight De La Hoya, Hatton can retire and keep his Manchester pub buddies in Guinness for the rest of his life.
For Mayweather, the stakes are about much more than money.
Mayweather has proclaimed himself the best fighter since Muhammad Ali, and says his legacy will place him among the two or three all-time greats.
A loss to "Vicky Fatton" as Mayweather has been calling Hatton, would be utterly devastating to his legacy, which he counts as currency as much as the millions of dollars he has earned in the ring.
On an emotional level, the damage of a loss to Hatton could be even greater. It has the potential to crush Mayweather, who has built his identity around being indestructible. Who knows what kind of fighter he would be after a loss to Hatton.
All this is conjecture, of course.
The world outside of Great Britain says Hatton can't do it, no way, no how."
11-19-2007, 12:20 AM
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