Floyd Mayweather is used to playing the heel, but heading to an opponent’s home country and wearing the football shirt of their most bitter rival may well take the cake.
Floyd Mayweather retired in 2017 after facing Conor McGregor in his final fight. His record remained a perfect one throughout his career, and remains at 50-0.
Back in 2007, though, there was one man many fans were convinced could hand Mayweather his first loss.
Floyd Mayweather wore Manchester United shirt to rattle Ricky Hatton
Mayweather, who stopped Victor Ortiz after a headbutt, was to fight Mancunian Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. The fight was a defense of Mayweather’s WBC and Ring welterweight titles.
Ahead of the fight there was a press conference in the United Kingdom, in which Mayweather, who dethroned Arturo Gatti, turned up in a Manchester United shirt. Hatton is an avid Manchester City fan, and the two teams harbour a bitter rivalry.
Mayweather’s reception was a hostile one, with fans chanting “Who are ya?” until Adam Smith stepped in to interview ‘Pretty Boy’. He said: “Welcome to the lion’s den.”
Mayweather responded: “Welcome to the lion’s den? I am the lion. I am the lion. I am the king of the jungle. This is called Manchester Mayweather.”
Though Hatton would win the press conferences over Mayweather, it was ‘Pretty Boy’ who would prove himself right, though, as after an admirable effort from Hatton, Mayweather stopped the Brit in the tenth round.
Hatton has since explained what he could’ve done differently against Mayweather.
Floyd Mayweather’s biggest rival stopped Ricky Hatton in two rounds
Though he fell short in his title attempt against Mayweather, ‘The Hit-Man’ Hatton won the IBO super lightweight title in his next fight against Juan Lazcano.
His run of form continued when he made a successful defense of the title by stopping Paulie Malignaggi, who Adrien Broner famously took the girlfriend of.
His next two fights would be less successful, however, as he was stopped in just two rounds by Manny ‘Pac-Man’ Pacquiao in 2009.
An attempt to finish his career on a win against Vyachaslev Senchenko backfired as Hatton was stopped once again, this time in the ninth. He announced his retirement after the fight.