BOXING:Has ever a fight drawn more coverage in the British media than Floyd Mayweather versus Ricky Hatton? Having worked on both Frank Bruno-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fights I can say they did not outrank it, and Lennox Lewis-Tyson certainly didn't. Nor did the hype surrounding the Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn confrontations equal that promoting the skirmish here in Las Vegas.
Those old enough tell me Randy Turpin and Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951 was pretty special, when questions were raised in the House of Commons after the BBC Radio commentary team of Raymond Glendenning and Barrington Dalby led listeners to believe that Robinson was winning their epic fight at London's Earl's Court only for Turpin to have his arm raised after one of the greatest upsets of them all. The public, I am told, was outraged to have been given a duff call.
So I wonder if similar questions will be raised in Britain after it was encouraged to buy into the myth that Hatton was about to beat Mayweather, a fighter who anyone with a proper knowledge of boxing had to acknowledge was a class above brave and lovable Ricky. Yet record pay-per-view figures for Sky Box Office are apparently a distinct possibility and bookies were expecting more money to be wagered on Hatton than for any previous boxing contest.
Reading the newspapers, with the tabloids in particular having developed an insatiable appetite for all matters Hatton in recent months, it did seem all sense of perspective had been lost as Hatton's sub-Bernard Manning cheeky-chappy observations were gleefully reported and Mayweather depicted as the bad guy, with scarcely a reference to his considerable abilities.
And then there is the part played by Sky itself, which surrendered a substantial chunk of its award-winning programming on Sky News on Saturday for what was a thinly-disguised advert for the £14.99 21) a pop required for fans to watch the fight. We had interviews with punters and fans in pubs, on the streets, in the casinos, on Las Vegas Boulevard. And hey, guess what . . . the big news was that Joe Public wanted the "Hitman" to win.
British people allow themselves to be sucked into a belief that England should have a team full of world-class footballers capable of winning the World Cup. No matter that England have been rubbish for the larger portion of living memory, it won't stop the bandwagon starting up again once the qualifiers begin for 2010. And, when the team fail, it's the manager's fault.
Why do people fall for it again and again? Perhaps it is because a cheerleading media ultimately stifles rational thought. This is what happened with the Hatton fight. If you read often enough that Hatton will prevail, and that Mayweather will not handle the heat, you begin to believe it. Especially if you have not actually seen Mayweather fight.
On Saturday night in Las Vegas football standards reached the MGM Grand as Hatton's hordes booed throughout the American national anthem, then jeered the introductions for one of the best fighters the sport has seen. Across Britain many more watched at home, or in clubs and pubs, believing their bets on Hatton were about to pay off.
Except it was never going to happen. Or, at least, it was highly unlikely. Hatton had been backed in to as short as 11-8 against winning the fight, a nonsensical price considering the Mancunian was up against a fighter who has operated on a higher plane for years. The truth is Mayweather is a modern great - Hatton is very good but simply not at that level. But it doesn't sell papers or boost pay-per-view sales, so let's conveniently sweep the facts under the carpet until, come fight time, they jump out and metaphorically - or literally in Hatton's case - dump you on your backside. Not that it matters then, because the sale has been made.
