Ricky & Floyd: class

Anything after fighting Floyd Mayweather is going to be a step down, so why not become undisputed champ? Maybe Rees and Witter can fight and Ricky can take the winner. They are still big fights, for legitimate world titles, so should not be sniffed at.

Glenn McCrory
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• 'Hitman must score a KO'
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• Hatton: I will fight on

He might not have ended up the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, but Ricky Hatton did one thing - he finally showed us all how good Floyd Mayweather is.

It needed someone we knew was something special, someone we knew would be aggressive and someone who had battered Kostya Tszyu into submission to prove it.

The Oscar de la Hoya fight didn't, but this did, if only because Ricky took the fight to him for the duration.

Of course it was heartbreaking for Ricky and the rest of us, but you have to take your hat off to Mayweather. He showed on Saturday night that he is indeed a modern-day great. Inside the ring he was exemplary, afterwards he showed that he is a smart kid.

He had just beaten Ricky Hatton and silenced the thousands of fans, but did not play up. He was smart enough to be humble, complimentary and showed there is more to him than the trash-talking and ticket-selling.

During the fight he took everything Ricky threw at him early on. I thought we would see him whingeing and complaining, but he didn't. He took it all and then when Ricky started to tire he used that extra room to devastating affect.

Some of his combinations were frightening. When you see a guy get an eight-inch gap between himself and Ricky Hatton and unleash three hard shots, all of them spot on, you know you are dealing with something special.

The finish was something else as well. Watch it again if you can, and watch the way he draws Ricky in, pivots on his left foot as he comes out of the corner and whips in that hook. He called it the check hook and it's something my Cuban guys do all the time.

It really was a masterclass. Ring genius. Call it what you like, but it really did show us just how good Mayweather is.

Greatness

I am just delighted that Ricky gave such a good account of himself, pushed for pound-for-pound greatness and treated us to an occasion we shall never forget.

It made me proud to see a British fighter involved, and let's face it partly responsible for, such a massive event. To see the likes of Brad Pitt, Sir Tom Jones, David Beckham, half of Hollywood and so many great, great names from the world of boxing there for Ricky, was just tremendous.

The only shame of course, was the way the fight panned out. I have to say I was in my own little world watching it, because I was working on the repeat showing for Sky Box Office, so I had to avoid the result and stay away from everyone until I came and watched it on my own!

I've got to say I thought Ricky made a fantastic start. He boxed with great intensity, great focus and he upset Mayweather's rhythm, pushed him back occasionally, made him stumble a couple of times - and all this against the best pound-for-pounder on the planet.

But then Joe Cortez stepped in. He's normally a very good referee, but I've got to say that was the worst performance I have seen him give. I know he has come in for a bit of stick since, and so he should!

He got carried away with the occasion, the hype between the two camps and made too much of an issue out of nothing. It became the Joe Cortez show.

What's more is it suited Mayweather. You had two fighters, one who likes to get on the inside and the other who likes to stay on the outside, at range. Cortez knew what Hatton's gameplan would be, but didn't even give him a chance to put it into practice. And that, at any level, is just not fair.

Clever

OK, if two guys are roughing it up and wrestling on the inside and rolling round on the floor, then you step in. But Cortez was doing it before a punch was even thrown. It was all about him and it was just wasn't good enough.

Mayweather was clever as well. He ducked into Ricky's attacks and if you look at the point deduction, he wasn't even hit. But he was bouncing up and down the rope to make it look like it. You can't really blame Floyd, but Cortez should've have spotted it.

Having said all that, I was slightly disappointed that we didn't see a plan B from Hatton. Maybe Floyd was that good he couldn't get it going, but when he realised his usual tactics weren't working I did think we'd see something different. I just wonder whether the whole occasion got to Ricky and indeed Billy Graham.

I am not about to criticise Billy, because he is a good mate and a brillaint trainer, but usually he has a much greater influence on Ricky's fights. Maybe he tried, I don't know, but I just felt that battling against the best in the world and a bad refereeing performance, they need something different, just to see what would happen

Perhaps they got carried away with the whole occasion. And it really was something very special. I have never know a Brit cause such a stir, such fervour in America. This was bigger than Frank Bruno v Mike Tyson and the difference this time was, plenty of us actually believed our guy could win. With Frank, we all wanted him to, but no-one really, seriously thought he had a chance.

Ricky can take great credit for that, great credit for chasing the pound-for-pound title and pushing the very best all the way. He didn't let anyone down.

But what next? There is talk of Oscar de la Hoya, Paulie Malignaggi, all sorts. But there is only one thing I want him to do - clean up that light-welterweight division.

His team clearly think welterweight is not the place for him, so if you are going to step back down Ricky, the only thing you can do is unify the titles. Which means Junior Witter and possibly Gavin Rees. I know Hatton has laughed Witter off in the past, but now he has the WBC title, and would make for a big fight.

Undisputed

Anything after fighting Floyd Mayweather is going to be a step down, so why not become undisputed champ? Maybe Rees and Witter can fight and Ricky can take on the winner. They are still big fights, for legitimate world titles, so should not be sniffed at.

If he still wants a massive challenge, still wants a big-name fight in the States, then it has to be Miguel Cotto. It would have to be at welterweight but if Ricky wants to stay in the same circle, then go for the Puerto Rican. It won't be easy, but Ricky likes it that way. There are big fights waiting and even beating someone like Paulie Malignaggi would re-establish his name and get that Hatton gravy train rolling again.

Whatever he does next, on Saturday night he proved himself to be one of the best British fighters ever.

He is also part of the best time for British boxing I can ever remember. Six world champions, Amir Khan on his way, Frankie Gavin in the amatuers and Joe Calzaghe winning the Sports Personality of the Year on the 'other side'. Ricky came third of course and Enzo Calzaghe was coach of the year, which was just great.

It really is a fantastic time to be involved in British boxing. It is in a great, great place right now and we should all be shouting it from the rooftops.

Ricky Hatton didn't become our seventh world champion, but he did play his part. He showed us how good the best in the sport actually is and he showed the world just how good British boxing is.