Mus Mus Tail: Long Shot

December 06, 2007

Long Shot

So, they ask me, they do. "John," they say, "do you like Mayweather or Hatton?" And because la casa del Mus Mus ain't got no cable, we usually answer "when the hell is that fight, anyway?" But even the profoundly unconnected know it's soon now, because the pitch is going into its final-hours whine. People who hadn't even heard of Ricky Hatton last month have an opinion about him now (not that there's anything wrong with that - you gotta start somewhere).

Mus Mus Tail would like to senselessly boast that we got on the Hatton train a while back. Hatton v. Tszyu? We took pleasure in watching the boxing pundits eat humble pie. Hatton v. Maussa? We called that fight and were only off by one round. And whatever things Manchester may or may not have to answer, umm, for, its boxing history isn't one of them. Its traditions are the stuff of legend. But Mayweather isn't Maussa, or Tszyu; Mayweather beat De La Hoya, and Zab Judah the Giant-Killer. People use the phrase "best pound-for-pound" like it was his middle name.

My head tells me this fight goes to whichever fighter has a greater horror of losing, and I suspect that's Mayweather. But Hatton has shown a remarkable instinct for rising to an occasion. If the fight were in Manchester, I'd call it Hatton by knockout. In Vegas, where the oddsmakers unanimously favor Mayweather, it'll be a lot tighter. Dudes in Vegas don't know Salford from Cincinatti. Still. I like a dark horse, and I don't mind being wrong every once in a while. Hatton by decision.

Posted by jd at December 6, 2007 07:58 PM