Last Saturday night or Sunday morning for that matter, Floyd Mayweather beat Ricky Hatton to maintain his hold on the welterweight championship. Unlike many past Mayweather bouts, this was an exciting one, it’s so unfortunate that I couldn’t watch it live and had to wait for relays nonetheless, I was happy and I am still so that the much-hyped Englishman lost, inevitably though. Many thought it was still close until Hatton was laid on his back by a Mayweather left hook cum uppercut in the tenth round, in the post fight interview the mouthy American described his ‘killer’ punch as ‘check hook’. The rest was inevitable. Mayweather once called a “fraud” by many doubting his credentials as the best pound-for-pound in the world and openly mocking his claims of being the best boxer to ever entered the ring, might be a “fraud” no longer. For after the bout at the MCG Casino in Las Vegas, during an interview, the 30-year-old Michigan native admitted to being not only less than the best pound-for-pound fighter but to being just one of many good fighters in the welterweight division. Before the bell rang for the first round, many felt it would be either a boxing clinic for Mayweather or an even fight because of the pressure Hatton would apply and it indeed turned out to be a little of both. The first three rounds were close ones, with Hatton’s style dominating. Hatton bulled Mayweather around, forcing him to the ropes and staggering him with a jab in the first round. After the third, in which Hatton was cut by a punch, the rounds alternated between being like the first three or a boxing clinic by Mayweather. In the fourth, Mayweather out-boxed a tiring Hatton. In the fifth, Hatton came back. In the sixth, Mayweather turned his back, was hit on the back of the head, and referee Joe Cortez deducted a point from Hatton. In the seventh and eighth, Mayweather dominated. He fought on the inside and the outside and almost stopped a weary Hatton in the eighth. Amazingly, the Englishman did comeback in the ninth, imposing his style on Mayweather once again but it was the last shot for him (Hatton); the rest of the night belonged to Mayweather. In the tenth round, Hatton leaped in with a left hook and Mayweather countered with a hook of his own. The ‘Hitman’ went crashing face first into a ring post and onto the canvas. He got up but was met by more punches from Mayweather who had just landed a knockdown blow when the referee stopped the bout. In a signature bout, Mayweather could sign off on his boxing career and in a move that has become all too familiar, that’s exactly what he did, this time telling the world that his boxing career is over. To quote him, “I won’t wait for boxing to retire me; I am retiring from boxing because I have nothing more to prove”.And in another familiar move, Mayweather’s announcement of his retirement did not fit the usual script for boxers hanging up their gloves. His post fight statements may raise some eyebrows among those who aren’t hard-core boxing fans and think Mayweather is truly the greatest fighter ever. But hardcore fans are different. Hardcore fans know Mayweather hasn’t fought the greatest opposition. In his last four fights, he fought Zab Judah – a fighter coming off a loss – Carlos Baldomir – a fighter who beat Judah for the lineal welterweight title but who was never really a top welterweight, critics say. He also fought and beat the ‘Golden boy’ Oscar De La Hoya, a retired fighter who hadn’t fought in two years before they met – and then last weekend, Ricky Hatton – a boxer, tailor made for a defensive specialist like Mayweather. There was too much hype stemming from the English press indicating how their ‘Hitman’ from Manchester, unbeaten in 43 professional fights would hand the flamboyant son of Mayweather Sr. his first defeat in 39 pro fights—how they were made to eat a humble pie! Floyd Mayweather did what he had to do and did it in the most ruthless fashion possible—in my opinion, ‘Pretty Boy’ proved his detractors wrong hence cementing his place up there as one of the best fighters to enter a boxing ring and rightly so. The ‘Hitman’, Hatton left the right with a bruised face, cut above his right eye yet ‘Pretty Boy’, Mayweather looked as fresh as he entered (the ring)—with a pretty face. The most dangerous team in Europe Barçelona is the most dangerous team in European club football. Statistics show that the Spanish giants have had more shots on goal during the group stage of the Champions League than any other team. Frank Rijkaard’s side has had 48 shots on goal in the six group stage matches. Only Lyon comes close with 45, while teams of the ‘quality’ of Arsenal (32), Seville (34) trail far behind. Rijkaard’s team also tops the ranking as far as possession of the ball is concerned, with a figure of 59%. The two other representative of the Spanish league follow closely behind: Real Madrid (58%) and Sevilla (55%). Possession of the ball and shots on goal inevitably generate further opportunities to score, and the number of corners won by Barça is a reflection of this. Barça have won 43 corners, a figure only bettered by Manchester United (47). However, Barça’s excellence in attack has been matched by their defensive performances. They have conceded three goals, a record that is only bettered by Chelsea with two. As a fan of Rijkaard and Co, I just hope such statistics go a long way to take the Catalonians to the top prize in Moscow come May. Contact: nku78@yahoo.com
