http://www.boxingtalk.com/pag/article13305.html

LOL that would be pretty funny.

I agree, that would be interesting. Shadow boxing added into the dance routine?

I think its a good thing because he'll have an advantage over just about anyone who enters because of his athleticism and foot speed. And if he wins, he'll become even more well known and closer to super stardom, which will be good for boxing overall because right now it needs a superstar.

I wanna see the Kostya Tszyu Vs. Mayweather dance off!!

please no

hajaha there's no way this can catapult him into superstardom. Dude comes off like a dick every fight.

At least Holyfield was a joke already by the time he went on. (And that is from a long time Holyfield fan)

Hatton taunts Pretty Boy's bid to dance into history
By PETER HIGGS
Last updated at 20:43pm on 1st September 2007
www.dailymail.co.uk

Ricky Hatton has taunted Floyd Mayweather over the brash American's decision to combine his training for their big fight in Las Vegas by taking part in the US version of Strictly Come Dancing.

"I don't know who Floyd's partner is going to be, but she will have to do all the leading," said Hatton. "He's known for doing a bit of back-pedalling, so I suppose it could be ideal preparation. I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to back-pedal against me."

Mayweather has surprised many boxing experts by signing up for the tenweek series of ABC TV's Dancing With The Stars, the second most popular programme on US television,alongside such celebrities as Spice Girl Melanie Brown and Marie Osmond.

If he reaches the final, the 30-year-old welterweight, known as 'Pretty Boy', will finish the programme fewer than two weeks before his December 8 showdown with Hatton.

While sports stars such as Darren Gough, Mark Ramprakash and Matt Dawson in Britain and former NFL running back Emmitt Smith in America have adapted their footwork to become stars of the dance floor,none was in training for such an important sporting event.

"I wouldn't like Ricky doing something like this before a big fight," said the 28- year-old Mancunian's trainer Billy Graham. "As far as I'm concerned, when a fighter's in full training all he should do is train, eat and sleep. But whatever Floyd Mayweather does doesn't surprise me.

"If you do something in small doses to ease the boredom of training, it might help. But you've got to be careful. The fight's the most important thing. Maybe, Floyd's looking for a ready-made excuse for when he gets beaten."

Hatton,unbeaten after 43 bouts,would not contemplate such a diversion before the biggest fight of his life, which could yield him £10million in earnings plus lasting legendary status.

"It's not for me," he said. "But I don't have the ego of Floyd Mayweather. If I was fighting the worst person on the planet I still wouldn't cut any corners. But Floyd hasn't got where he has without knowing himself well. I'm sure he feels it won't affect his training."

The Hatton camp still expect Mayweather, also unbeaten after 38 contests, to be in peak condition for their welterweight clash, predicted to be the fight of the year.

"I've never seen Mayweather in anything but the best shape for every fight," said Graham. "He might be trying to insinuate that he's not taking this one seriously so that he'll lull us into a false sense of security. But that won't happen. We couldn't care less what he does. All we're concerned with is getting Ricky right for the fight — and he will be."

As he waits to begin his three-month training camp in a fortnight,Hatton has been enjoying the benefits of his celebrity status, but he will stop the fun and games seven weeks before the fight.

As well as savouring Manchester City's best start to the Premier League season ("I always said Sven was a god") he has appeared on TV programmes such as the Anthony Cotton Show, Loose Women and David Beckham's US Soccer Show, been in demand for after-dinner speaking and continued his charity work.

He was particularly thrilled last week to film a minor role in The Green, Green Grass Of Home, an off-shoot of Only Fools and Horses which will be screened on BBC1 later this year.

"They found out about how mad I am on Only Fools And Horses and offered me this small part," said Hatton. "I was over the moon to meet Boycey and Marlene because, to me, they are national treasures."

Already into his weight-training programme Hatton says he is in such good condition he will act as a sparring partner for brother Matthew, 26, the IBF Inter-Continental welterweight champion, who has a fight later this month.

EXCLUSIVE BOXING CHAMP RICKY HATTON ON WHY HE'LL ALWAYS BE AN ORDINARY BLOKE
26/08/2007
The Sunday Mirror

You're stuck behind a three-wheeled old banger, stuttering and stalling at the traffic lights... Thinking of giving the driver a piece of your mind?

Well, think again, because behind the wheel could be Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton, a barrel of bulging muscles with fists like sledgehammers, who's on the way to becoming the greatest boxer Britain has ever produced.

"If somebody road-raged me, mate, know what I'd do?" Ricky says. "I'd back off. If I see trouble coming, I'll walk away from it. I always have.

"Even as a kid at school, I can only remember having got into three playground scraps. That was before I got paid for fighting, mind you."

The next punch Ricky throws with a vengeance will be aimed at the American Floyd Mayweather. Their bout, under the chandeliers of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in December, has just been announced.

The welterweight match will earn Ricky £5million. To add to the £2.5million he collected after flooring Jose Luis Castillo in four rounds in June.

He has gone 43 fights unbeaten (46 if you count the playground scuffles) and, at 28, is already worth £12million.

And yet we're sitting in a semi-detached home, in a back street in Hyde, Manchester. Ricky says this is his dream home, the sort of palace he thought he'd never be able to afford in the days when he was a trainee carpet fitter.

It must have set him back the best part of £200,000. Parked outside is that three-wheeler, Ricky's pride and joy, never mind the top-of-the-range BMW next to it.

It's one of the original Reliant vans from Only Fools And Horses. He bought it for £20,000 from a collector and his hobby is to drive it around Hyde, wearing a sheepskin coat and flat cap, Del Boy-style.

See that house over the back fence? Ricky's mum and dad, Ray and Carol, live there.

That bloke sprawled out in the other white leather armchair, watching Only Fools And Horses DVDs? That's younger brother Matt, also a boxer, who lives two minutes' walk away.

"My roots are here and this is where I'm staying, where the Hattons belong," Ricky says. "What would I do with a mansion behind big gates - cut myself off from my family and mates? No thanks.

Here, I can walk down the street to my local pub and play in the darts match every Thursday night. "I've seen Vegas and I've seen Hyde, and I know where I belong. Home is where you can drive your old three-wheeler round the streets and nobody gives you another glance."

The house is a lad's pad. The Hitman's hideaway. Ricky's girlfriend, stunning former model Jennifer Dooley, has recently moved in but - apart from an arrangement of dried flowers by the fireplace and a cute toy cat curled up on the hearth - there's no obvious sign of a woman's touch yet.

The smallest room downstairs is the kitchen-diner, the biggest the games room - with its pool table in the colours of his beloved Manchester City FC, the walls adorned with boxing trophies and memorabilia.

Look closer at the snapshots and they're a celebrity gallery... and they're a celebrity gallery... Ricky with Tom Jones, Ricky with the Gallagher brothers ("My heroes. I play Oasis in the dressing room before a fight"), Ricky with Sly Stallone. "This is my favourite spot in the whole house," he says, leaning back on the chocolate-leather sofa in the corner, surveying his collection.

"From here I can look around and think to myself 'this is what I've earned'. And that's my favourite picture..." He's pointing to a large photo in a gilded frame, Ricky in action versus Jonathan Thaxton in October 2000, when his face had started to resemble something that had been freshly pounded on a butcher's slab.

"I cut easily," Ricky says. "When I look around at what I've earned, that picture reminds me of what I have to go through to earn it, the hard way."

Just then Jennifer comes home with the shopping - a six-pack of lager and a six-pack of cider, for the lads' beer fridge.

They've been dating for 12 months and friends say it won't be long before Ricky does the old fashioned thing, goes down on one knee and proposes. Is it true? He pretends he hasn't heard the question. And the way he flexes that left hand, you don't .care to ask it again. "Sure it's serious with Jennifer, we like the same kind of life," he says. "But right now, I have a fight to think about.

"Actually I knew Jen before - we were five-year-olds in the same class at primary school. She's a Hyde girl. So she understands me. She sort of knew I was a successful boxer, but it didn't impress her.

"There's one thing for sure - she'll never be a WAG. Her ambition is to avoid the celebrity thing and I respect her for that."

Ricky and Jennifer, it turns out, are big friends with the Rooneys - Wayne is an old mate from years back, before either of them were known, and this summer he grinned like a star-struck schoolboy when Ricky invited him to carry his championship belt into the ring at Vegas.

"Wayne's a lot like me - he's still the same lad from Liverpool at heart," Ricky says. "There's huge pressure on him and Coleen and I admire the way they've not let it change them.

"When we get together it's usually for a takeaway at their house or ours.

"Fame, as far as I'm concerned, is just something that comes with the job. If I could go out, fight, collect my pay and go home quietly, that would suit me."

He is, he reveals, considering some TV work... he has already been auditioned for a slot on A Question of Sport and he hopes to develop more broadcasting work for the day when the fighting has to stop.

And he enjoys charity work. He supports three groups, making appearances and signing photos - part of the reason for his MBE this year. It was a proud day, he says, when he went to the Palace with his mum, dad and Jennifer to collect his honour.

He and Matt grew up on tough council estates in Hyde - a place better known for the Moors Murderers and Harold Shipman - and he thinks there's a moral in his success...

"This is a fantastic country," he says. "There's plenty of talk at the moment about the state of kids today, but I see the ones that come into the gym and they're just as enthusiastic as we were - all they need is direction.

"We had a close family, who supported us. Give today's kids the same support and they'll reward you."

We're back in the lounge, where a very different portrait dominates one wall.

Ricky and a special youngster - his son Campbell, now six.

He was born when Ricky was at the start of his career.

The relationship with his mother Claire didn't last. To his credit, Ricky set up a trust fund, making sure that both of them would be cared for, as his earnings grew. In the Hatton style they still live nearby too. The portrait is striking - Campbell, you tell him, looks just like his Dad.

"Are you trying to say my boy has a nose that looks as if it's been flattened by a steamroller?" Ricky asks.

The scarred brow frowns. That Big Left drums on the chair arm: "Only kidding mate... everyone says he's a clone of me, he's got my grin.

"I can't tell a lie, I wouldn't want him to be a boxer. No parent wants to see their son getting punished in the ring and it was only when I became a father myself that I could understand what my own folks must go through.

"Boxing has given me a brilliant living. Maybe it will provide opportunities for Campbell to do something else. You know, when I step into the ring, I always remind myself - this is all for my son.

"I do my job, I come home and we have a kick-around with a football round the back, and life's great. If he doesn't put a dent in Trotter's van, of course."

HATTON: "YES, I AM A BIG UNDERDOG, BUT I HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE AND I AM STILL 43-0!"
By John Tandy | August 31, 2007
www.fighthype.com

Ultimate Boxing Results editor John Tandy, in association with FightHype.com, recently caught up with undefeated jr. welterweight champion Ricky Hatton as he prepares for his highly anticipated clash with undefeated five-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. "I will be there for every second of every round," stated an extremely confident Hatton as he talked about what he'll have to do to prove a lot of people wrong and dethrone the pound-for-pound king! Check it out!

JT: Ricky, hope you are well. Have you started your preparation for the fight yet?

RH: I'm good, thanks. I am back in the gym doing some light work ready for the hard push leading up to the fight. I am going to be fitter and stronger than ever. Mayweather is the biggest fight of my career and I will be in the best shape of my life for this one.

JT: You got the fight that you always wanted. How do you feel about it?

RH: It's great. Unbelievable almost. Not only am I fighting a world champion, he is also a five weight world champion and is considered by many as the best pound for pound fighter in the world at the moment, and deservedly so, but I am going to be ready.

JT: It is deserved though. You've had some tough fights in your career to get here, tougher than most.

RH: I have fought some decent fighters. I am currently 43-0 and I have fought a few world champions and am a four-time world champion myself. Tszyu and Castillo were obviously the highlights, but there are many others.

JT: How does it feel when, before fights, you are written off as having no chance? Both Tszyu and Castillo were ranked above you in the pound for pound rankings before the fights, but then, as soon as you beat them, they are suddenly past their best.

RH: Yeah, it's a little frustrating not getting the credit you deserve. I don't know how people can say Kostya Tszyu was past his best. He fought a great fight. Before the fight, it was considered a total mismatch and they were saying that I shouldn't be there and I would be totally outclassed. Yes, he lost, but he fought a great fight. He's a true warrior. Castillo was the favorite going into our bout as well and I stopped him in four rounds and was the first in his career to put him on the canvas, but critics will always be critics.

JT: Also, not forgetting Collazo and Urango. They were decent fighters as well and I am sure they will prove this in the future.

RH: Yeah, I think so. Urango was a freak of nature. How he gets that frame down to light welterweight is just unbelievable. He is big and strong and a decent boxer and he will come again, I'm sure. As for Collazo, although Mosley did a great job with him, he has proved that he can compete at that level. Collazo has got Sharmba Mitchell in his next fight and I think he will prove that he is a world class fighter and I think he will prove his class and win well.

JT: I don't think that anyone will be able to say the same should you beat Floyd Mayweather. He is most peoples choice as the best pound for pound fighter and is also coming off a win up at light middleweight to make him a five weight world champion. This time, he is definitely in his prime. Can we just confirm this?

RH: (Laughing) Ha. Yes. No, I don't think they will be able to make any excuses this time.

JT: What are your tactics for the fight? You proved you could box and move against world class fighters such as Urango, and we all know that you can brawl.

RH: I don't think my tactics will be a surprise to anyone. I don't think that I will be able to outbox Mayweather. It's his game. It's what he is best at. However, the two fighters that really pushed Mayweather to his limit, Oscar De La Hoya and Jose Luis Castillo, both pushed him out of his comfort zone. When fighters let him have his own way, there has only been one result.

JT: What is your opinion of the Mayweather vs. De La Hoya fight? A few people think Mayweather lost that fight. What do you think?

RH: It was close, but it depends on the type of style you prefer. Mayweather was the boxer and De La Hoya was the brawler. De La Hoya threw a lot of leather, but Mayweather was more precise. Also, the first fight with Castillo was a total clash of styles. It was obviously harder work for Castillo and De La Hoya and they both faded towards the end. That will be the difference when I fight him. I will be there for every second of every round and I won't fade.

JT: You are fighting him in his own backyard. Do you worry that with some of the decisions that come out of America, if he is still standing, he will get the decision?

RH: No, not really. A few years ago, Mayweather announced that he would come over to Manchester to knock me out after the Tszyu fight. I never heard anything from him. I guess he realized that I was a bit better than he originally thought. Now I am going over to him, but to be honest, I would have fought anywhere. It doesn't matter where it is.

JT: A lot of people have already written you off as having no chance, especially the American fans. What do you say to that?

RH: Well, to be honest, that has happened to me throughout my career. The Kostya Tszyu and Castillo fights especially. I do think, though, that anyone who thinks I don't have a chance going into this one, doesn't know too much about boxing. Yes, I am a big underdog, but I have been there before and I am still 43-0!

JT: You sound confident. Do you feel that you are going to prove a lot of people wrong who are writing you off?

RH: I have been there in the past and this is no different. I will go out there and give it everything I have. Of course I am confident. He is a great fighter and it will be a great fight, no doubt about it, but as with all my fights, I am going there to win.

JT: You are only 28 years old. Win or lose, where do you see yourself heading after this fight? Have you still got a long career ahead of you, or will it be a few more and then enjoy the easy life?

RH: I have had some tough fights, you never know. There are some massive fights out there at the moment, but that is something that I just can't answer at the moment. I want to see how this fight goes and get through this one before making any future plans, and then after the fight, we will see. I can't go on forever. Ask me again after the fight.

JT: Thanks for your time Ricky and good luck for the fight from all of us here at Ultimate Boxing Results and FightHype.

RH: Thanks mate. Take care.

"I don't know who Floyd's partner is going to be, but she will have to do all the leading," said Hatton. "He's known for doing a bit of back-pedalling, so I suppose it could be ideal preparation. I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to back-pedal against me."




hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ha

Nice articles amanamagus. Its going to be hard to pick who's going to win. I however prefer Mayweather but on the other hand Hatton is no pushover either.

This fight is hard to pick, it could be a boring fight (Floyd by UD) or a war (Floyd by closer UD)

Hatton is to ugly to be champ

[QUOTE=MBL;635778]This fight is hard to pick, it could be a boring fight (Floyd by UD) or a war (Floyd by closer UD)

Hatton is to ugly to be champ[/QU

Lol

Floyd is still going to whip Hatton.

Here we go!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs9Pq8cheA0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eeastsideboxing%2Ecom%2Ffor um%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D18795
_________________

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i'm not surprised that he did as well as he did. i know that footwork came in handy.

plus he's black. rhythm comes natural.

Shit FLoyd looked like a pro

he is pretty damn good, sort of expected that though

Figures.

Good footwork in boxing helped him to dance better

THANK'S