Hatton-mania alive and well
"I thought you Brits were supposed to be kind of reserved," said Pamela, as a middle-aged man in a Manchester City shirt crept up behind us and drenched us with dribble.
Alas, Pamela, the days when rakish types roamed the casinos of Vegas, melting the hearts of the locals with their refined English wit, died out with crushed velvet tuxedos.
Not that the casino owners will be bemoaning this cultural shift. Hatton fans can drink, well, like Hatton, and the bars of the MGM Grand were a seething mass of northern manhood long before Friday afternoon's equally seething weigh-in.
An estimated 30,000 Brits jetted in for , but only 6,000 are expected for . I say "only", but given the , that's a minor miracle.
"I saved up for 12 months, that's what Ricky Hatton means to me," said Scott from Rochdale. "And if he fights back over here again next summer, I'll be saving up all over again."
"I've been let down by my friends because of money, but this time I was coming on my own," said Sean from Huddersfield. "I'll cut back on some things, but I'll not cut back on Ricky Hatton. Hatton-mania's not dead, not by a long shot."
"In boxing there's no-one else like Ricky Hatton," said .
"I don't think Hatton-mania has died down - it's still as strong as ever - but what has died down is the economy."
The Garden Arena's capacity has been scaled down to 12,000 for Saturday's fight, or about three-quarters, and there are still tickets available. But you wouldn't have known it from the weigh-in, with about 2,500 Hatton fans in attendance, including a five-piece brass band.
A couple of bemused Americans were sent running for cover in a hail of "who are yas?" (perhaps if they'd stopped shouting "who are ya?", they would have found out) before hit the stage.
Legendary ring announcer Buffer had the air of a respected headmaster sent to restore order to an out-of-control remedial class. The look on his face said: "Jeez, I should get out of my office more often, they've let things get real bad around here..."
rather unwisely raised the crowd's heckles by waving his Team Malignaggi tracksuit, before Malignaggi himself entered stage left.
To his mates back in Brooklyn, Malignaggi probably looked 'fly'. To British eyes, dripping with gold and cloaked in a black velour dressing gown with dragon motif, he looked like a female resident of a Beverly Hills retirement home out for her afternoon constitutional.
His rather mincing little dance after he'd stepped off the scales wasn't the best way to silence the crowd, and by the time Hatton hit the scales, you half expected people to start pulling out hand cannons, "yeeha-ing" and firing at the ceiling.
The face-off was more of a 'pack-off', with both men making Michelangelo's David look like Minty off of Eastenders.
Ricky was pumped, but thankfully not as pumped as at the , when he lost control of his emotions and started calling Mayweather a "clown".
Neither has there been any darts down at the Crown & Anchor this time round, and it's clear that Hatton has one aim and one aim only this time around: smash Malignaggi to pieces and get the hell out of town.
Out in the sports books, most of the money was being laid on a Hatton victory, although the really big bucks are being laid back home.
One punter has staked £20,000 at 2/5 on Hatton to win, while 95% of all money bet with William Hill has been poured on the 'Hitman'.
"Mind you, the pattern was much the same in the days before the Mayweather fight, and look what happened there," noted a William Hill spokesman.
"Nah, that's not going to happen this time round," said Andy from Chester. "There's more chance of me being able to pronounce Maligwhatshisface than him beating Hatton. Right, let's go and get battered..."
Has there ever been a British sportsman so beloved? There are certain luxuries his hard-core fans can do without - like food and mortgage payments - but they just can't go without Ricky.
PS. "T-H-E-R-E'-S O-N-L-Y O-N-E... I'm sorry, I can't go through with it...
Hello. I have been working for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ for more than a decade now and cover almost all sports. It would be good to hear from you - just don't be nasty or my mum might get upset.
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Comment number 1.
At 22nd Nov 2008, gav wrote:ricky looks in great shape. Hatton to win by KO and call out Mayweather jr!
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Comment number 2.
At 22nd Nov 2008, redandblackT-Save 606 wrote:try not to knock Minty too much.A thespian legend methinks!Got a sneaking feeling Paulie's gonna sneak this one.Keep hearing bout Paulie ribs getting battered.Have not noticed the much touted body punching in a while.Didnt seem to bother Money May!
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Comment number 3.
At 22nd Nov 2008, Lovenkrands 8 my danish wrote:Ricky looks like he means buisness and I am looking forward to the fight. His opponent though is a genuine one, but hopefully not a concussive puncher. Lets see Ricky warm up through the early rounds with his 'new' style. He won't want to get tagged too much in the event of a 12 rounder, but I think once he gains a bit of confidence through small successes early on he should go for it in round 7. If his opponent does not wilter, then he should ease up and make sure of the points victory. Afterall there could be bigger and better fights to come.
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Comment number 4.
At 22nd Nov 2008, Michael Laurence wrote:Good luck, Ricky.
But I have to say I'm embarrassed by the British fans. Their moronic chanting makes me cringe. What must the Americans make of these idiots? I watched the weigh-in last night and had to hit the mute button when they started chanting "There's only one Ricky Hatton"... as if we didn't know that already!
It's bad enough that the football chanting spread to cricket (Barmy Army) but now it's happening to boxing.
Worst of all was the booing of the US anthem before the Hatton/Mayweather fight. We saw a similar disgraceful performance in Berlin on Wednesday night (I don't mean the England team, of course).
My message to my fellow Brits is this: please try to think about the image of this country that you are projecting around the world. Grow up!
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Comment number 5.
At 22nd Nov 2008, Sirmattsway wrote:"My message to my fellow Brits is this: please try to think about the image of this country that you are projecting around the world. Grow up!"
infidel65- mate what are you on about? Its amazing that so many fans turn up all that way in a foreign country to support ricky and just sing, chant ricky songs, drink and have a good time. Some with football, ,most travel enjoy it and do it without trouble. How can you say its bad them chanting only one Ricky hatton.
Brazilians, Spanish, French etc all dance and celebrate in stadiums etc. What do you want people to do give him a one handed clap at the weigh in or the fight. Do you realise Americans often cheer, boo, applaud various scenes of the film IN A CINEMA???? Yet here you are slating British sporting fans.
Be it English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish these sports fans are the best and most passionate in the world IMO and I feel its great when they sing. Yes the Ricky song can wear thin at times but thats only because they do it all the time along with other songs, some of the football songs we have are cracking and can be made up there and then.
Ricky himself loves and appreciates these fans you are slating, the ones that sing and enjoy it are the ones who go to the trouble of Vegas or even get the fight on TV. You say you feel embarrassed well I feel embarrassed of people like you being British saying things like that.
Booing the national anthem is a football thing and happens all over the world as its meant to be intense, hostile away game for the other team. Its not about disrespecting the USA who are letting you in or their people its about targetting the fighter. Really does make me laugh you comparing us to USA who shout "yeah man badass" in the cinemas just for a film. Its a major sporting event for gods sake. SHOW SUPPORT to our British sports heros not be silent or worse slate them.
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Comment number 6.
At 22nd Nov 2008, RelaxedSteak wrote:infidel65
While your criticism is justified you are being a tad unfair on the fans who travelled to Berlin, our anthem was hardly well respected either.
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Comment number 7.
At 22nd Nov 2008, Sirmattsway wrote:Exactly, this guys talking about booing a national anthem yet we had players racially abused in Spain, Crotia and Hamilton had it in Spain with F1.
The guys not a sports fan IMO.
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Comment number 8.
At 22nd Nov 2008, IBrokeTheBigScreen wrote:It will be tough for Ricky, he has learned so much from Billy Graham, to the point it may be all he does know.
Still makes for an interesting fight though! Hatton by split decision.
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Comment number 9.
At 22nd Nov 2008, Thursday-night-channel-5 wrote:HOW CAN YOU BE EMBARASSED BY THE BRITISH FANS , weve the best fans in the world, absolutely brilliant !!
sometimes people just want to moan for the sake of it !!!!!!!
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Comment number 10.
At 22nd Nov 2008, John Smith wrote:Dirs, I do like your commentation but 'The face-off was more of a 'pack-off', with both men making Michelangelo's David look like Minty off of Eastenders after an all-dayer in the Queen Vic.'
Errr, what?
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Comment number 11.
At 22nd Nov 2008, ecfc2929 wrote:infidel65 - what a load of diatribe! You should be ashamed to call yourself English.
Passion and support is what makes us English the best supporters in the world and to be embarrassed by that is pure ignorance.
The yanks will be in awe of our support and so they should be - fantastic turn out and i wish Ricky the his entourage all the best for tomorrow! Do us proud!
English and Proud of it!
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Comment number 12.
At 22nd Nov 2008, wanprime wrote:infidel65, i am not sure why but after reading your comment the word...'douche' springs to mind.
well said Sirmattsway, well said
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Comment number 13.
At 22nd Nov 2008, Laurie wrote:Paulie is a much better fighter than people give him credit for. His performance against Cotto was excellent, his main problem is his brittle hands.
Hatton to win, but struggle with Paulie.
7 rounds to 5 to Ricky, and look for Hatton to even get wobbled by feather-fisted Paulie.
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Comment number 14.
At 22nd Nov 2008, QueenButtercup007 wrote:What a load of fuss!! Infiel65 and Sirmattsway both have a point! I am a very passionate football supporter and sing along with the best of them! You gotta show your support and boy do the Tartan Army do that! However, we, (the British people), can sometimes make ourselves look a wee bit bad when we boo national anthems etc. There's gotta be a happy medium!!!
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Comment number 15.
At 22nd Nov 2008, mark wrote:i totally agree about the booing of the national anthem it shows great disrespect! there is just no need to do it to any team.
as for the comments about being embaressed about the constant chanting ive got one thing to say GET A GRIP MAN.
these people have spent their life saving to go and support there hero and you expect them to sit mute??
im proud to be ENGLISH and proud of the supportes out there keep it up and god luck ricky
a 9th round knock out will do fine.
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Comment number 16.
At 22nd Nov 2008, PompeyLapras wrote:Personally I think chanting, singing etc is great in any sport, including cricket. The chanting in cricket just helps to add to the atmosphere in my opinion, after all it's all about having fun, having a few Pimm's, watching some cricket. Likewise there's nothing wrong with Mexican waves. Personally in a cricket game I'd rather have lots of chanting going on than sitting in silence. It seems slightly elitist the way you say it in fact. And yes, Americans chant too you know.
And for the comment about cheering, applauding in movies and so on, I've seen that happen a few times in the UK too. For instance, after Legolas killed the Oliphant in Return of the King. Also happens upon landing while flying somewhere as well. I find nothing wrong with that either. It's all just good humour.
However I'm against booing national anthems no matter what nations they are, especially the Russian one since it has an awesome tune. That's something that should really be stopped by England fans but the rest is fine!
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Comment number 17.
At 22nd Nov 2008, bendirs wrote:Morning all. I'd agree that the question of what's acceptable and unacceptable in a group of fans is a difficult one to answer. Ricky Hatton's following is truly astounding, and whether you find the behaviour of some of them (I repeat, 'some') out of order or not depends on your own moral compass.
For example, it was very easy to trot out the old line that Hatton's fans were "amazing" before his fight with Mayweather, but I also, for example, overheard an American woman in a lift that week say to her friend that she "wouldn't speak to her dog like they spoke to her". And I spoke to plenty of Brits that week who were pretty disgusted with the behaviour of their countrymen and women.
Anyone who has spent any time in America will agree that they a very puritanical nation at heart, and actually incredibly polite in general. So you can imagine how the boorish behaviour of some of Hatton's fans goes down with some. Also, I can totally understand how some British people might be embarrassed when they see on TV that parts of Vegas have been turned into your average Friday night high street back home. Personally, I can't really complain too much because if I was here purely as a fan, I'd be plumbed in at one of the bars boozing all day as well.
The one thing I wouldn't do however is boo the American national anthem. As Malignaggi said earlier this week, "Ricky's made a lot of money in our country." Plus, the old "it's just what we do at football matches" line just doesn't wash with me. How can you spend a week in someone's country, being royally entertained and serviced in a great town like Vegas and then turn round and stick two fingers up at them at the end of it all? It was bang out of order, end of story.
PS. I'm hearing there won't be any anthems this time round. The excuse is that they can't find anyone to sing the British one, but you've got to take that with a pinch of salt.
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Comment number 18.
At 22nd Nov 2008, iamaus wrote:i am an englishman living in California, of course i will be rootin for Hatton most fervourly at my local bar. however i will also be polite to my "hosts" the American people, as I hope all the fans of Hatton will do. We as nations certalnley follow our sports in different manners, the Americans are much more reserved, they don't ever sing at their "football" games, only the national anthem, which they revere passionateley we , the English , on the other hand are intense and are apt to let our emotions take over completely. On that note , let me wish Hatton the very best of luck, and may all the travelling fans enjoy their visit to this wonderful country, and do their country )England) proud
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Comment number 19.
At 22nd Nov 2008, Brit-exPat-In-USA wrote:Boxing? Is that still a sport?
Ok, I am mainly kidding, but there is a point to be made. The reason why the Brit fans stand out is because Boxing in the USA is marginal at best and there are no large groups of home fans. I am blogging here because I would not know that this fight exists if I did not log in the the BeeB to check on Footie and Cricket.
So do not criticize the fans, they are having a good time on a meaningless outing. Anyway, criticism of any standards in Vegas is ironic as it is the tacky, sleazy capital of the world.
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Comment number 20.
At 22nd Nov 2008, mont1uk wrote:I may be alone but for me national anthems in boxing are totally out of place and completley uneccesary so im glad there will be no fuss this time round.
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Comment number 21.
At 22nd Nov 2008, Quick_Single wrote:Have to agree with Ben - one of the important factors of travelling around the world is having respect for your hosts.
The fact is that the national anthem to Americans is a big deal. It may not matter to us, but for anyone to turn up in their backyard and boo the Star Spangled Banner, is a pretty bad show in their eyes.
I suspect that a few posters on here wouldn't take too kindly to 'Johnny Foreigner' coming over here and slighting us in a similar way.
I happen to think that this is a symptom of a larger problem which is that for some Brits 'support' is not just about backing your own guy, but putting the boot into the other guy too. I'm a massive fan of all British athletes overseas, and will be cheering for Ricky, but negative support isn't what it's all about.
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Comment number 22.
At 22nd Nov 2008, U13209083 wrote:Paulie Malignaggi will win! As much as I want Ricky Hatton to win - I just can't see it. Hatton is a very limited boxer, he lacks a jab, he lacks head movement, and he smothers his own work. Hatton was lucky to get a decision against Collzao (in my opinion) and I think Paulie will outbox Hatton with a view to stopping him late on.
It depends how you see things. I thought Paulie gave Miguel Cotto a very good fight and it was competitive. Without the knockdown I would've had Cotto up by 115 to 113 and Cotto is a class above Hatton.
I hope I'm wrong and I wanna see Hatton win so he can fight the winner of De La Hoya & Pacquaio but I'm tryna be realistic.
Hopefully, Ricky will use his boxing brain, he will work off of a jab, he will move his head and strength advantage and take the decision but I can't see it.
I give Hatton next to zero chance of stopping Paulie. Cotto broke Paulie's jaw and eye-socket, Hatton will have a hard night.
Gift decision for Hatton if it's a close fight? Hmm.
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Comment number 23.
At 22nd Nov 2008, ecfc2929 wrote:Look, i think the general consensus is that we shouldnt boo other national anthems. I agree, lets show some respect.
However, the counter argument to this is simply would it offend u if someone booed your anthem? Personally no it wouldnt, couldnt give a toss to be honest.
I make a point of not booing anthems at football but im not really that bothered about ppl that do. its all about insecurity really, but i suppose each to their own.
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Comment number 24.
At 22nd Nov 2008, mike wrote:Having worked as a teacher in the US for a few years, I had to recite the pledge of allegiance and unfurl the flag every day in class. It is an important ritual here. Once the flag pole broke and the flag fell on the ground-the flag can not touch the floor. This produced huge gasps from even the most apathetic of students, it was deadly serious! Not one student smiled or laughed when that happened. This is how serious these rituals are to American people.
Right now I have just left the MGM Grand because the atmosphere was loutish-and I do not mean loud! It was loutish abuse from 50 or so Brits. Las Vegas is my home and I welcome all visitors here, but please do not be abusive. Yes, I love Britain, it is where I was born and raised. America is my home-I moved here for work and family reasons. But even I am embarrassed by how some British people are behaving, again it is a minority of 50 people out of the thousands of impeccably behaved, wonderful Brits that give us a bad name. Such is life! I will be reporting live from the MGM Grand in a few hours!
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Comment number 25.
At 22nd Nov 2008, mybloodwasinjectedintomefromacanon wrote:I hope the British fans over there watching the boxing give as good as the American fans give when they come to Britian and cheer on their golfers in Ryder Cup (in the hole) ("dude its his tee shot and its a par 5")
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Comment number 26.
At 22nd Nov 2008, memyselfandpie wrote:Agree that English fans make idiots out of themselves by booing national anthems - even the Germans.
I love the singing though. The yanks are jealous, the best they could ever come up with was "U.S.A!". Ha!
Hate to say it but I'm expecting a better performance with Hatton's new trainer in the corner. I know Graham tried to get Ricky to use his excellent jab more, but something tells me he might actually listen to a trainer he doesn't know quite so well...
If Hatton could manage to be slightly less face first he might still be a true world beater - even at welterweight. It's only his reach that lets him down, he still has the speed to get around that if he fights smart and with controlled aggression.
I maintain that he could've beaten Mayweather with a fairer ref and a different trainer (not Graham's fault, just their relationship got in the way I reckon).
Mayweather doesn't like a good jab.
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Comment number 27.
At 23rd Nov 2008, Sir Percy wrote:does anyone know if there are any live streams showing the fight?
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Comment number 28.
At 23rd Nov 2008, david_delarge wrote:It's not so much the loutish behaviour that bothers me, I just wish they could come up with another song, for god's sake.
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Comment number 29.
At 23rd Nov 2008, memyselfandpie wrote:rk - just go to myp2p.eu , they always have links.
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Comment number 30.
At 23rd Nov 2008, goweraustin wrote:hi Ben, thanks for your super coverage on the fight. Everytime Paulie talks about himself or his upbringing he always seems to call himself an Italian-American. Is there any reason the British media just call him a New Yorker ? Im a huge fan of the fight game and have an interest in some of the great Italian-American fighters in the past like Rocky Marciano, Jake LaMotta, Ray "boom Boom" Mancini, Vinny Paz etc.. i think its great that there are still Italian-Americans involved in the fight game but am looking forward seeing Ricky knock this Paulie kid out. Do it Britain Ricky !!
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Comment number 31.
At 23rd Nov 2008, memyselfandpie wrote:Complain about this comment (Comment number 31)