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Baby, take off your coat … real slow.
Baby, take off your shoes …
I’ll take your shoes
Baby, take off your dress …
Yes, yes, yes
You can leave your hat on…
The lines are taken from Joe
Cocker’s 1986 hit song You Can Leave Your Hat On. While Cocker
obviously sang it with a sultry vixen in mind, the lyrics somehow
describe the way World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion
Floyd Mayweather stripped Ricky Hatton of his aura of invincibility
on December 8.
In 10 bruising rounds, Mayweather
destroyed Hatton brick by brick, or fabric by fabric if you want to
stay faithful to the song. First, Mayweather took away Hatton’s
power … real slow. He then shattered into bits the Brit’s
seemingly impregnable jaw at the tail-end of the fight.
By the time Mayweather was done
for the night, Ricky was left with only his hat on. Make that his
pride. In fairness, the guy fought his heart out.
Hatton came in with a record of
43-0 with 31 knockouts. The Manchester native was supposed to be
hard as a rock. Before meeting Mayweather, Hatton had been knocked
down only once—in a 2002 fight against Eamonn Magee for the
obscure WBU jr. welter title.
Toughness runs in Hatton’s
bloodline. His great, great grandfather was a former bare knuckle
fighter in Ireland. Hatton’s father, Ray, played professional
soccer in England. Ricky also played the game and at age 14 tried
out for the Manchester City Skill of Excellence club.
By the time he was 15 years old,
Hatton was knee deep into boxing and knocking out everyone he faced
in the amateur ranks. He turned pro in 1997 and eight years later
was crowned IBF jr. welterweight champion (140 pounds) with a
pulsating 11th round knockout victory over Kostya Tszu. In his next
fight, Hatton added the WBA version of the title by halting Carlos
Maussa in 9 rounds.
As junior welter kingpin, Hatton
wore down opponents with nonstop punching. But as he moved up in
weight, the dents in Hatton’s armor started to become noticeable.
He went the distance and looked one dimensional in a May 2006
decision win over Luis Collazo for the WBA welterweight title.
Hatton apparently felt he was
ready for Mayweather when he stopped Mexican Jose Luis Castillo with
one vicious bodyshot last June. Castillo gave Mayweather a lot of
problems before dropping a decision in their first meeting in April
2002. Castillo, however, was already damaged goods when he faced
Hatton.
Mayweather, who captured the WBC
junior middleweight title (154 pounds) with a debatable decision
over Oscar De La Hoya in May, moved down to the welterweight class
and proved too talented and powerful for Hatton.
Hatton enjoyed modest success in
the early rounds with his brawling style, but Mayweather—who has
been exposed to just about every style in the sport—knew what to
do. He kept Hatton at bay by scoring effectively with right leads
and left hooks. And when Hatton tried fighting dirty to throw the
champion off his rhythm, Mayweather matched the former elbow for
elbow.
Hatton’s debilitating body
attack was inexplicably absent and it didn’t help his cause one
bit when referee Joe Cortez kept the Brit’s wild rushes in check.
By the eighth round, Mayweather
was punishing Hatton at will. In the 10th, Mayweather uncorked a
textbook left hook that sent Hatton sprawling to the canvas. Hatton
bravely rose to his feet, but as Cortez stepped in to waive the
fight over, the still woozy challenger fell like a log again.
Hatton graciously accepted defeat
and vowed to return. But you can bet the rent money that it’s open
season now for the “Hitman.”
Oh, in case some of you didn’t
notice it, Hatton made his way into the ring with his British fans
singing him praises to the tune of Winter Wonderland.
“I’m about sick of that song
myself now,” said Hatton after losing to Mayweather.
Ricky, my boy, you can always
check out Cocker’s hit.
For comments, the writer can
be reached at atty_eduardo@ yahoo.com
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