News and Notes

News and Commentary from the Who2 Staff

Sunday, May 03, 2009

The Knockout

British light welterweight Ricky Hatton, KO'd in the second round by Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao last night in Las Vegas.

I saw Hatton fight Juan Urango in Vegas in 2007. It looked like a sloppy fight to me -- I know little about boxing -- but Hatton won by decision and it was plain he was a bullish, straight-ahead fighter. His fan support was tremendous.

British fans sang again and again (and again) before and during that fight a song that begins "There's only one Ricky Hatton" and, peculiarly, borrows the tune of "Winter Wonderland." ("...Ricky Hatton" replaces "...Are you listening," if you see what I mean.) Hatton joked in the paper the next day that even he got a little tired of hearing it.

25,000 British Hatton fans made it to Vegas this weekend, and the MGM Grand seats only 17,000 total. The Filipino fans were equally boisterous:

To say that the over-enthused, over-caffeinated, over-adrenalized, over-everything throng of unswayable Manny Pacquiao and Rocky Hatton partisans were an animated bunch at a sold-out MGM Grand Garden arena on Saturday night would be like calling The Beatles a rock band or Gandhi a pretty good dude: such a description would certainly ring true, but it would fail to encapsulate the frothing-at-the-mouth fervor that defined this event.

Pacquiao dominated. No need to cry for Hatton: he made $8 million for the fight (and Pacquiao made $12 million). But it looks like the end for him.

(Photo credit: Mary Ann Owen / WENN.com)

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 10:31 AM Share on Facebook  

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