I’m still on my American voyage and last night I went to a sports bar to see the fight between Ricky Hatton and Floyd “pretty boy” Mayweather.

I was really hoping for a Hatton victory. He seems like a nice guy, always in good form, still goes for a game of darts in his local on a Saturday night, but most interestingly, he fights in the style that I find exciting.

He gets in close to his opponent and punches to the body. He is mean and uncompromising and is like a skinny, white Tyson when he is on form.

Mayweather, in contrast, is an arrogant and annoying character. He wears all the bling - diamond encrusted watches, enormous cartoon chains around his neck and several diamante rings at any one time. He is convinced that he is the best boxer of all time and has said so. He has little respect for any other boxer and he seems to be universally disliked among the boxing fraternity.

Floyd Mayweather’s dad, Floyd Mayweather snr. was giving boxing hints to Ricky Hatton! Oscar de la Hoya, whose production company was promoting the fight, was in Hatton’s corner and giving him as much advice as possible.

Anyway, I went to a sports bar to watch the pay-per-view fight last night. It was a 5-dollar cover to get in to see the fight. I expected to hear universal support for the home fighter, with the crowd being hostile to the British invader.

Not so.

The overwhelming support was for Hatton.

OK, I thought, perhaps I have wandered in to a bar where the majority of people are British ex-pats.

Not so.

Almost everybody was American.

All the African-Americans were cheering for Mayweather, but only a minority of white Americans were cheering for him.

It was a bit of a surprise to me. However, to label it as simply racism is probably a bit too simplistic. Perhaps more accurately, it might be said that Mayweather is very difficult to like. African-Americans were staying loyal to him, whatever the odds, whereas everybody else simply went for the boxer that was easier to like and much more exciting to watch.

I though it was an unusual thought to have entered my head, but today I read this blog that seems to confirm what I thought.

I was sorry to see Hatton knocked out. He fought very well, but Mayweather had infinitely more class. The percentage of punches that Mayweather landed, particularly in the last few rounds meant that even if Hatton wasn’t knocked out, he would have lost in a unanimous decision.

Mayweather is pretty classy, but I wouldn’t pay to see him. He is not an exciting boxer. If he truly wants to be regarded as one of the best of all-time, then he needs to come forward more and not simply engage in a defensive style, relying on accurate one-off shots. Ali and Tyson could all mix it with their opponents. Last night Mayweather did mix it with Hatton in the end, but only when Hatton had worn himself out.

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