On December 8th, Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxing's #1 pound-for-pound fighter, faces the top dog of the 140lb division, Ricky Hatton. The fact that Floyd is simultaneously training for a dance competition, "Dancing with the Stars" on ABC, doesn't seem to affect the odds makers and bookies, who have installed the self proclaimed "Money Mayweather" a 3-1 favorite one month before the fight is scheduled to take place.

Many critics and experts see this as a contrasting style matchup; the consummate slick boxer verses the pressure brawler. Some are going so far as to say that Hatton will be completely dominated in the same fashion that Arturo Gatti was on June 25th, 2005. That night, it seemed like Mayweather was playing Fight Night Round 2 as he seemingly landed at will, connecting with over 60% of his punches. Gatti barely managed to land a single punch. While that particular fight probably isn't a proper analogy, it is the foot and handspeed of Mayweather that have people predicting a mismatch.

For the experts that think Hatton has a good chance of dethroning boxing's #1 fighter, many point to Floyd's first fight with Castillo where he was pressured for all 12 rounds. Castillo attacked Floyd's body with an effectiveness and relentless that we hadn't seen in any of his previous 27 professional fights. Compubox had Castillo outlanding Floyd in power punches by a wide margin, while Mayweather outlanded Castillo in the jab department. In the post-fight interview, Mayweather claimed that, although he was not making any excuses, he had hurt his shoulder coming into the fight and as a result, was not able to get off combinations as he normally does.

In the championship rounds of that fight, rounds in which Mayweather usually cruises en route to a points victory, Floyd was forced to stand and trade toe-to-toe assuming that the fight was very tight on the scorecards. Unfortunately for Castillo, that didn't turn out to be the case. After the 12 rounds were complete, Floyd was awarded a controversial unanimous decision in a fight that most ringside observers felt Castillo had won or at the very least earned a draw. What was shocking to most fans and media alike was the wide margin of victory Floyd was given, winning by 4 and 5 points on two of the judge's scorecards. As it seems to be the norm as of late, just when you think you have a clear cut winner, the judges award the decision to the person who appeared to be the clear cut loser. Not only was Floyd given the points victory, he was given the victory by a lopsided score.

Ricky Hatton's first trip north of 140 pounds was not very impressive. He barely scratched by titleholder and slick southpaw Luis Collazo in his debut at 147 pounds. In that fight, Hatton's physical advantages at 140 were not present at 147. While he was able to score a knockdown in the 1st round, Collazo collected himself and proceeded to outbox Hatton for the remainder of the fight, even hurting him badly in the 12th. Hatton managed to clinch and hold for the majority of the fight and was awarded a razor-thin points victory in another fight where the perceived clear-cut winner ends up losing. Immediately after the fight, Hatton relinquished his WBA welterweight title and quickly moved back down to 140 to reclaim the title he he gave up when he moved up in weight.

My own prediction for the fight is that Mayweather will look to prove all of his critics and naysayer's wrong, especially the ones calling him a safety first fighter in light of his victories over Baldomir and Delahoya, victories that were won primarily on his back foot. Of course, the nature of the victories wasn't necessarily what had the critics so riled up. It was the fact that Mayweather, in both fights, had promised toe-to-toe action and knockouts, but the reality was, as the smaller man, he chose not to engage in that gameplan or back up his trashtalk. This time, I don't think that will be the case. How ironic would it be if Hatton, a renowned body puncher, was stopped by a body shot? Realistically, I see Hatton being able to stand up to Floyd's power, but I just don't think his fragile facial tissue will be able to do the same. If Mayweather is bothered by Hatton's pressure or power (a style that he has seen before and should be accustomed to), he can always win the fight going backwards, much like his victories over Baldomir and Delahoya. The key punch for Mayweather, in my opinion, is the straight right hand which should be there for him to land at will as Hatton is a straight-forward fighter. I don't think his training for the dance show will have any influence on the fight as Mayweather is a gym rat who is always in shape. There is a chance that he could take Hatton lightly though, and that would be a critical and costly mistake.

While it appears as though Floyd wants to win America over on the dancing show by showing a different side of himself that the world didn't see on 24/7, he continues to give his best Clubber Lang impersonation when talking to the assembled media at the press junkets. Come December 8th, with the winner of Cotto-Mosley already being established, I see Mayweather winning some time between rounds 8 and 10 with the ringside doctor having to wave the fight off due to Hatton's face being too bruised, cut, and swollen to continue. Come 2008, we might finally have a true kingpin in the welterweight division when the winner of Mayweather-Hatton faces the winner of Cotto-Mosley in a mega fight. Long live the welterweight division.