The Boxing Thread
 

The fight is on Saturday. We're now into the pre-fight build up to one of the fights of the decade.

Who do you think will win and why?

I've voted for Mayweather. My hearts wants Hatton to win but Hatton needs to get to Mayweather early on. The more the fight wears on the more Mayweather will show his superior boxing skills.

Not sure on who will win yet but I cant wait for the fight. What time does the coverage start? I might have to come home early just to indulge in the build-up shows.

It's on pay per view at 2 am.

I think Hatton will do all he can to get ahead early on but may end up tiring himself out and Mayweather will just outbox him from the middle point onwards and win via decision.

Ricky is not going to get the chance to just work in close and blast him with bodyshots.Floyd is far too clever and quick to be drawn into Hatton's game.

Please remember to vote.

I would love Hatton to win, but the concenus in my house is Mayweather is going to clinch it. If one thing's for sure, this is probably going down to the wire and might be one of the best 12 rounds we've seen for a while.

- Mark

Yeah I would love for iRcky to win but think mayweather will just clinch it.But ill keep my fingers crossed

I have tickets to this in my local bar. It's a lock in for VIP ticket holders from 8pm-6am! Can't waaait.

I hope Hatton wins! he's a sound guy!:spin2:

Trying to find a decent sportsbook to bet on this. At the weekend the line was even (which is pretty ridiculous) but now its -211 for mayweather. Think I'm gonna go with this.

Over/under on rounds has been set at 11.5 too - pretty bad value :bawling:

- Mark

Never really much value in betting on such a close fight.

A couple other fights this weekend that might be worth a little punt on are Wayne Elcock vs Arthur Abraham.Abraham is one of the top middleweights around but I reckon Elcock will give him a good test and maybe sneak a win.

Amir Khan vs Graham Earl is another one that may cause a bit of an upset.Khan's a good young fighter but Earl is a big puncher and there are still question marks over Amir's chin.You'll probably get decent odds on Earl winning via KO.

I definitely going to watch that fight. Amir will have his work cut out against that guy.

He certainly will,this fight may have come a bit too quickly for him in my view.This is only his 14th pro-fight and he's taking on a guy with a very good record.

Earl managed to beat Yuri Romanov who's ranked very highly in the world rankings at lightweight and he's coming off the back of a world title shot against the unbeaten Aussie,Michael Katsidis, he even managed to put Katsidis down and had him real trouble before being stopped himself.

Amir better watch out then. I hope he's in the mood. To me Amir seems a bit of an up and down fighter. One fight he looks great and in the next he looks sluggish.

I think you're spot on there.You look at his last 2 fights and there's a stark contrast between the two performances.

Against Lawton he was really sharp and got the guy out of there in a few rounds with just the sheer speed and accuracy of his shots.

Against Willie Limond it was a totally different story, he was tentative from the start and that allowed for Willie to gain in confidence and he even started to time Amir's shots and get in there with some great counter punches and knocked him down.Amir was lucky he wasn't against a big puncher as he'd have been finished off.

The main problem with Khan in my eyes is his defence, or his sheer lack of it.He lives his chin so far up in the air when he's on the attack and his guard is not tight enough.

As he moves up the ranks his chin is going to be severely tested and with his defence being so lapse he's going to get himself into bother.I see him ending up as one of these fighters that get themselves into real wars, having to go down to really go into top gear.

I totally agree mate. He seems to totally rely on his speed and reflexes. He reminds me of Herol 'Bomber' Graham. He's a great boxer but not a great fighter. If Amir get severely tagged it'll be the end of him. Lights out, goodbye.:whistle:

I see the rumours keep going on about Mayweather having an injured hand, he's always had problems with his hands over the years, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise.

I noticed that Peter Manfredo is 11/2 with most bookmakers to beat Jeff Lacy.That really might be worth betting on.Who really knows what kind of shape Lacy is in these days? He didn't look too good in his last fight which is a year ago and that makes me believe that the fight with Calzaghe really took a huge amount out of him, both physically and mentally.He's had this year out with a torn rotator cuff, that's really got to set you back.I've known some boxers to become a shadow of their former selves after that injury.

Manfredo's kept active over the last year and not really taken too much punishment so he could be fresh for the win.

Many ex-pro's are tipping Hatton to win. Oscar De La Hoya and now Bernard Hopkins are going for Hatton. Let's hope Ricky can fight the right kind of fight.

On a side note ive been really enjoying the great 24/7 documentaries about this fight on Sky over the past few days.

Crap weather here all weekend. Lets pray the signal wont bugger off during the fight.

I hope Hatton wins but I have got a feeling that Mayweather will just win it.

I would love for Hatton to win but sadly I dont think he will. Mayweather has an extremely accurate punch and if Hatton gets a cut on his eye's then Mayweather will be able to target that to make the situation worse.

Both are very talented boxers but my bet (sadly) is on Mayweather

Sucks that i wont be watching, I have seen most of the major fights over the last 10 years. I guess five live will have to be my eyes....lol

Here is the full weigh-in video

I've just found out I can watch it for free on German TV. :hugesmile:

Cause I've got an old satellite dish.

I definatley want Ricky Hatton to win.
He seems a cool guy and afterall i want a Brit to win!
My mums got it on pay per view so i'm gobna stay up and watch it!