The Natural
12-06-2007, 09:53 AM
De La Hoya Hopes To Fight Hatton In The Near Future
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The following is from the Sports Ticker:
De La Hoya wants Hatton showdown
December 4, 2007
By Mark Staniforth Special to PA SportsTicker
LAS VEGAS (Ticker) - Oscar De La Hoya is helping with Ricky Hatton's final preparations for Saturday's fight against Floyd Mayweather, but the 'Golden Boy' has an ulterior motive.
De La Hoya is hoping an upset win for Hatton in Las Vegas will pave the way for him to face the Englishman in a superfight in London next year.
Six-weight world champion De La Hoya is already in talks with the Hatton camp about a projected Wembley Stadium showdown in May next year.
"I would fight in London in a heartbeat," he said.
The 34-year-old has long spoken of his admiration for Hatton's fighting style and has been a regular in the Hit Man's off-Strip gym this week to help him put finishing touches to his game plan for Mayweather.
"I want to fight the biggest fight and it would be an honor to go to Hatton's capital city and fight him there in front of 80,000 supporters," De La Hoya told PA SportsTicker.
"These are the kinds of fights that people want and it could happen. When I fought Mayweather it felt like a sparring session. He didn't want to fight. I want to please my fans in my last two fights and we all know a fight with Ricky Hatton is going to be exciting."
Hatton's lawyer Gareth Williams confirmed talks had opened over a possible fight against De La Hoya, which could take place irrespective of the result against Mayweather on Saturday night.
"The chances are very strong," Williams said. "We have strong links with Oscar De La Hoya and 'Golden Boy' and we have had discussions with them about fighting Oscar at Wembley. It would be the perfect venue and we could look at selling in excess of 80,000 tickets.
"It wouldn't be a 3 a.m. fight. We'd looking to do it possibly on a Sunday evening. Americans have a tradition of watching sport on Sunday afternoons, so it would be ideal that way."
Hatton has studied tapes of De La Hoya's performance against Mayweather and is completely confident that he possesses the necessary extra dimensions to succeed where the 'Golden Boy' only just failed.
"It seems funny me criticizing him, but if you look at De La Hoya he is a tactician and a combination puncher," Hatton said. "Mayweather wants you to throw combinations so you miss a lot and get tired.
"Oscar has told me that he believes he would have won the fight if he could have done in the last six rounds what he did in the first six. He watched me train on Monday and believes I can do that."
Hatton held court with the media at his rented house in the Las Vegas suburbs late on Monday evening and bristled with confidence during an impressive one hour interview.
Part of Hatton's remarkable self-belief stems from the suggestion that Mayweather is taking him lightly, as perhaps underlined by the American's choice of the one-dimensional former opponent Carlos Baldomir as his sparring partner.
"I was delighted when I saw he was sparring Baldomir," Hatton added. "I get the impression that they view me as a strong, come-forward fighter who comes in straight lines. They don't feel I am as good as I am.
"Baldomir and Lovemore N'Dou are the two worst sparring partners he could have picked, in my opinion. They are slow, ponderous, plod forward and don't change angles or have the volume and variation of punches I have."
Hatton knows the odds are against him but sees that as irrelevant.
"I don't know if it's ego that he feels he only has to turn up," he said. "I couldn't care less about any lack of respect that might imply.
"I don't look at who he's beaten, or how many titles he's won, or who he beat in his last fight. I pick him apart bit by bit and think, 'Can I beat him?' And the answer is, 'definitely.'"
Hatton made his 'Grand Arrival' at the MGM Grand Casino Tuesday where he took the microphone and told his rowdy band of fans: "On December 8 you come and watch me take the belt from this clown."
The following is from the Sports Ticker:
Hatton's mother reveals retirement pact
December 5, 2007
LAS VEGAS (TICKER) -- Ricky Hatton's mother revealed on Wednesday that the boxer has made a "pact" with his family to quit boxing after he turns 30 next year.
The undefeated Hatton is preparing for the biggest fight of his career this weekend when he challenges American Floyd Mayweather for the WBC welterweight title in Las Vegas.
There is already talk of a Wembley showdown with Oscar de la Hoya should Hatton upset the odds in the early hours of Sunday morning.
It is thought trainer Billy Graham is keen for Hatton to retire shortly after turning 30 and mother Carol wants her son to hang up his gloves before he gets "hurt."
"It's the last lap of his career now," Mrs. Hatton told BBC Radio Five Live. "He's 30 next year and we all made a pact. ... Two or three more fights. Because, after 30, your reflexes slow down."
Mrs. Hatton believes her son has an increased chance of getting hurt and said that he no longer needs to fight for the paycheck.
"How many boxers do you know who come back for the money and unfortunately terrible things happen?" Mrs. Hatton said. "You don't get paid overtime - not in boxing, do you? So, get your money, get in there, get it done as quick as you can and let's all go home and have a party
Mayweather making few friends
December 5, 2007
By Mark Staniforth Special to PA SportsTicker
LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- Floyd Mayweather says his desire to rise out of the wreckage of a dysfunctional family life has given him the extra hunger required to continue to reign as the greatest boxer in the world.
Behind all his trash-talking tirades and the expletive-ridden rants of his uncle and trainer Roger, there is a warmer side to Mayweather which suggests his status as boxing's bad boy is largely promotional pantomime.
But as he happily holds court at length with the world's media, he leaves little room for doubt that he is still deeply affected by an upbringing which involved a drug addict mother and a father jailed for five years for narcotics offenses.
Mayweather's father remains estranged. During his incarceration, Mayweather hooked up with his uncle Roger, himself no stranger to controversy, as a one-year ban for invading the ring during his fight with Zab Judah can testify.
But Mayweather believes those experiences in his formative years helped shape a character which craves success in a way Hatton, the product of a relatively serene upbringing on a council estate in Hattersley, will never understand.
"I don't think Ricky Hatton's ever seen his father shot, I don't think Ricky Hatton's been on drugs, I don't think his dad's been to prison," Mayweather said. "I come from a neighborhood where people dying is normal. To come from that life and fight my way to the top, I think that's one hell of an accomplishment.
"I truly believed in myself when nobody believed in me. I don't think it's cocky, it's just super-confident. When everybody was doubting me, I never complained, I never cried. I just kept proving them wrong."
Mayweather's rise out of the ghetto is not unusual. Boxing is stuffed with stories of similar triumphs over early adversity. But few have risen so far so fast as Mayweather, whose bank balance will top $100 million after Saturday night.
Perhaps it has given him the right to appear arrogant. But increasingly this week Mayweather's brash public persona has betrayed glimpses of a devoted family man for whom the 'bad boy' image is wearing a little thin.
"Sometimes people portray you the way they want to," shrugged Mayweather. "The pen and the mouth are strong weapons. Are you judging me by what you see on TV, or what you hear through hearsay, or do you really want to get a chance to see the real Floyd Mayweather?
"They didn't talk about the 600 families I fed on Thanksgiving, or the toy drive I'm having for families who are less fortunate. They don't talk about that, do they? But I know who I am as a person. If I can afford 10 cars, then I'll buy 10 cars. Just because I'm fighting a guy who may have one car, does that mean I'm saying I'm better than him? Not at all.
Mayweather continued to defend himself and downplayed comparisons to Hatton.
"I live my life the way I live it, and he lives his life the way he lives it," Mayweather said. "If he wants to buy one car, it's up to him. If he wants to drink beer and throw darts, that's his life. My life's a little bit different.
"But just because we live our lives in two different ways, that doesn't mean one is better than the other. I feel that everybody is equal. And I live my life the way I live my life."
Those are hardly the words of a fighter who deserves to have alienated a large proportion of boxing supporters on both sides of the Atlantic.
It is hard to find a taxi driver or croupier in this city who does not admit a desire to see Hatton reign on Saturday night.
At Tuesday's 'Grand Arrival' in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel, Hatton was cheered to the rafters while Mayweather was greeted with a chorus of boos in the city he calls his home.
"If I got a reception like that in Manchester, I'd hang my head in shame," Hatton said.
But whether or not the majority of supporters will pay up to $15,000 for ringside seats or tune into another record-breaking pay-per-view to see him lose, nobody can argue with the numbers.
"I'm money Mayweather," Mayweather grinned, threatening to flick back into his more familiar public persona.
"Hatton's been here before and he didn't sell out. He's selling out now. Why? Because his fans are coming to see me."
Few would dare make that suggestion to the thousands of British fans who continue to drop in from the Las Vegas skies as fight week begins to gather its irresistible momentum.
Like many of the locals, they are here to see their man shut Mayweather's big mouth.
That is the consequence of a brash and bling image which Mayweather himself is responsible for cultivating. And it is the truth whether he likes it or not.
MMANEWS.COM
Bookmark Us Contact Us
The following is from the Sports Ticker:
De La Hoya wants Hatton showdown
December 4, 2007
By Mark Staniforth Special to PA SportsTicker
LAS VEGAS (Ticker) - Oscar De La Hoya is helping with Ricky Hatton's final preparations for Saturday's fight against Floyd Mayweather, but the 'Golden Boy' has an ulterior motive.
De La Hoya is hoping an upset win for Hatton in Las Vegas will pave the way for him to face the Englishman in a superfight in London next year.
Six-weight world champion De La Hoya is already in talks with the Hatton camp about a projected Wembley Stadium showdown in May next year.
"I would fight in London in a heartbeat," he said.
The 34-year-old has long spoken of his admiration for Hatton's fighting style and has been a regular in the Hit Man's off-Strip gym this week to help him put finishing touches to his game plan for Mayweather.
"I want to fight the biggest fight and it would be an honor to go to Hatton's capital city and fight him there in front of 80,000 supporters," De La Hoya told PA SportsTicker.
"These are the kinds of fights that people want and it could happen. When I fought Mayweather it felt like a sparring session. He didn't want to fight. I want to please my fans in my last two fights and we all know a fight with Ricky Hatton is going to be exciting."
Hatton's lawyer Gareth Williams confirmed talks had opened over a possible fight against De La Hoya, which could take place irrespective of the result against Mayweather on Saturday night.
"The chances are very strong," Williams said. "We have strong links with Oscar De La Hoya and 'Golden Boy' and we have had discussions with them about fighting Oscar at Wembley. It would be the perfect venue and we could look at selling in excess of 80,000 tickets.
"It wouldn't be a 3 a.m. fight. We'd looking to do it possibly on a Sunday evening. Americans have a tradition of watching sport on Sunday afternoons, so it would be ideal that way."
Hatton has studied tapes of De La Hoya's performance against Mayweather and is completely confident that he possesses the necessary extra dimensions to succeed where the 'Golden Boy' only just failed.
"It seems funny me criticizing him, but if you look at De La Hoya he is a tactician and a combination puncher," Hatton said. "Mayweather wants you to throw combinations so you miss a lot and get tired.
"Oscar has told me that he believes he would have won the fight if he could have done in the last six rounds what he did in the first six. He watched me train on Monday and believes I can do that."
Hatton held court with the media at his rented house in the Las Vegas suburbs late on Monday evening and bristled with confidence during an impressive one hour interview.
Part of Hatton's remarkable self-belief stems from the suggestion that Mayweather is taking him lightly, as perhaps underlined by the American's choice of the one-dimensional former opponent Carlos Baldomir as his sparring partner.
"I was delighted when I saw he was sparring Baldomir," Hatton added. "I get the impression that they view me as a strong, come-forward fighter who comes in straight lines. They don't feel I am as good as I am.
"Baldomir and Lovemore N'Dou are the two worst sparring partners he could have picked, in my opinion. They are slow, ponderous, plod forward and don't change angles or have the volume and variation of punches I have."
Hatton knows the odds are against him but sees that as irrelevant.
"I don't know if it's ego that he feels he only has to turn up," he said. "I couldn't care less about any lack of respect that might imply.
"I don't look at who he's beaten, or how many titles he's won, or who he beat in his last fight. I pick him apart bit by bit and think, 'Can I beat him?' And the answer is, 'definitely.'"
Hatton made his 'Grand Arrival' at the MGM Grand Casino Tuesday where he took the microphone and told his rowdy band of fans: "On December 8 you come and watch me take the belt from this clown."
The following is from the Sports Ticker:
Hatton's mother reveals retirement pact
December 5, 2007
LAS VEGAS (TICKER) -- Ricky Hatton's mother revealed on Wednesday that the boxer has made a "pact" with his family to quit boxing after he turns 30 next year.
The undefeated Hatton is preparing for the biggest fight of his career this weekend when he challenges American Floyd Mayweather for the WBC welterweight title in Las Vegas.
There is already talk of a Wembley showdown with Oscar de la Hoya should Hatton upset the odds in the early hours of Sunday morning.
It is thought trainer Billy Graham is keen for Hatton to retire shortly after turning 30 and mother Carol wants her son to hang up his gloves before he gets "hurt."
"It's the last lap of his career now," Mrs. Hatton told BBC Radio Five Live. "He's 30 next year and we all made a pact. ... Two or three more fights. Because, after 30, your reflexes slow down."
Mrs. Hatton believes her son has an increased chance of getting hurt and said that he no longer needs to fight for the paycheck.
"How many boxers do you know who come back for the money and unfortunately terrible things happen?" Mrs. Hatton said. "You don't get paid overtime - not in boxing, do you? So, get your money, get in there, get it done as quick as you can and let's all go home and have a party
Mayweather making few friends
December 5, 2007
By Mark Staniforth Special to PA SportsTicker
LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- Floyd Mayweather says his desire to rise out of the wreckage of a dysfunctional family life has given him the extra hunger required to continue to reign as the greatest boxer in the world.
Behind all his trash-talking tirades and the expletive-ridden rants of his uncle and trainer Roger, there is a warmer side to Mayweather which suggests his status as boxing's bad boy is largely promotional pantomime.
But as he happily holds court at length with the world's media, he leaves little room for doubt that he is still deeply affected by an upbringing which involved a drug addict mother and a father jailed for five years for narcotics offenses.
Mayweather's father remains estranged. During his incarceration, Mayweather hooked up with his uncle Roger, himself no stranger to controversy, as a one-year ban for invading the ring during his fight with Zab Judah can testify.
But Mayweather believes those experiences in his formative years helped shape a character which craves success in a way Hatton, the product of a relatively serene upbringing on a council estate in Hattersley, will never understand.
"I don't think Ricky Hatton's ever seen his father shot, I don't think Ricky Hatton's been on drugs, I don't think his dad's been to prison," Mayweather said. "I come from a neighborhood where people dying is normal. To come from that life and fight my way to the top, I think that's one hell of an accomplishment.
"I truly believed in myself when nobody believed in me. I don't think it's cocky, it's just super-confident. When everybody was doubting me, I never complained, I never cried. I just kept proving them wrong."
Mayweather's rise out of the ghetto is not unusual. Boxing is stuffed with stories of similar triumphs over early adversity. But few have risen so far so fast as Mayweather, whose bank balance will top $100 million after Saturday night.
Perhaps it has given him the right to appear arrogant. But increasingly this week Mayweather's brash public persona has betrayed glimpses of a devoted family man for whom the 'bad boy' image is wearing a little thin.
"Sometimes people portray you the way they want to," shrugged Mayweather. "The pen and the mouth are strong weapons. Are you judging me by what you see on TV, or what you hear through hearsay, or do you really want to get a chance to see the real Floyd Mayweather?
"They didn't talk about the 600 families I fed on Thanksgiving, or the toy drive I'm having for families who are less fortunate. They don't talk about that, do they? But I know who I am as a person. If I can afford 10 cars, then I'll buy 10 cars. Just because I'm fighting a guy who may have one car, does that mean I'm saying I'm better than him? Not at all.
Mayweather continued to defend himself and downplayed comparisons to Hatton.
"I live my life the way I live it, and he lives his life the way he lives it," Mayweather said. "If he wants to buy one car, it's up to him. If he wants to drink beer and throw darts, that's his life. My life's a little bit different.
"But just because we live our lives in two different ways, that doesn't mean one is better than the other. I feel that everybody is equal. And I live my life the way I live my life."
Those are hardly the words of a fighter who deserves to have alienated a large proportion of boxing supporters on both sides of the Atlantic.
It is hard to find a taxi driver or croupier in this city who does not admit a desire to see Hatton reign on Saturday night.
At Tuesday's 'Grand Arrival' in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel, Hatton was cheered to the rafters while Mayweather was greeted with a chorus of boos in the city he calls his home.
"If I got a reception like that in Manchester, I'd hang my head in shame," Hatton said.
But whether or not the majority of supporters will pay up to $15,000 for ringside seats or tune into another record-breaking pay-per-view to see him lose, nobody can argue with the numbers.
"I'm money Mayweather," Mayweather grinned, threatening to flick back into his more familiar public persona.
"Hatton's been here before and he didn't sell out. He's selling out now. Why? Because his fans are coming to see me."
Few would dare make that suggestion to the thousands of British fans who continue to drop in from the Las Vegas skies as fight week begins to gather its irresistible momentum.
Like many of the locals, they are here to see their man shut Mayweather's big mouth.
That is the consequence of a brash and bling image which Mayweather himself is responsible for cultivating. And it is the truth whether he likes it or not.