24 foot by 24 foot ring tonight gives floyd a big advantage

i saw a report that the fight tonight will take place in the largest possible ring allowed i beleive.

i cannot even remember the last time i saw any fight take place in a ring this size.

i do remember the leanord v duran rematch taking place in a ring this size but that was about 20 years ago.

it does mean it will be virtually impossible for hatton to get floyd to the ropes as the ring will be so big he will find it almost impossible to corner and gives mayweather already the favourite a huge advantage in a fight of a pressure fighter v a slick boxer.

team hatton ****ed up hugely by not lobbying for at least a 18 to 20 foot ring, and even though i dislike him , no way at all the fight would have taken place in a 24 foot ring if warren was still in the fold.

team hatton must have fallen asleep and team mayweather must be over the moon.

 

i saw it on news bulletins on google when i did a search for what hopkins actually said .

 

this was the article i read it on.
its not definitive and i hope he is wrong and the fight takes place in a smaller ring.

By Michael Swann friday 7 december

A couple of days ago I threw out a teaser that I wasn’t sure that Jeff Lacy would be able to defeat Peter Manfredo Jr. at this point. The two men meet in a 10 round super middleweight fight on the “Undefeated” undercard on Saturday night, with the winner placing himself in position to move on to bigger things, while the loser faces an uphill climb to regain relevance in big time boxing. Lacy in particular, however, goes into the fight with everything on the line.

For Manfredo Jr., truthfully less is expected. He is simply seen as the reality TV star who has made the most of his limited ability, and was unafraid to take his shot against champion Joe Calzaghe, although he was exposed as being out of his class in that one, even with the premature stoppage taken into account. For him, a win is great and sets up another big money fight, but even with a loss his name from “The Contender” will continue to land him some main event fights somewhere in the boxing minor leagues. No one sees him as a legitimate contender, but because of “The Contender” he is legitimate box office.

Much more is expected from Lacy. It’s like The Mutt and the Pedigree. Lacy, a former Olympian, was the IBF 168 pound titlist until he ran into Joe Calzaghe, in what amounts to his Waterloo, and was beaten to a pulp for 12 rounds. The buzzards began circling overhead, asking if he was just overrated all along.

After the Calzaghe debacle Manfredo was rumored to be Lacy’s comeback opponent, but for reasons best known to Manfredo, that fight didn’t come off.

Then Lacy had an acrimonious breakup with his longtime promoter Gary Shaw over what appears to be pettiness and influence from outsiders. Shaw had thought of Lacy as a son, and in fact Shaw’s son had been Lacy’s roommate and best friend.

Many believed that Lacy’s championship rise had been manufactured by Shaw, using smoke and mirrors along with some clever matchmaking to develop the perception that Lacy was a 168 pound Mike Tyson.

Lacy took a tune up fight on his friend Winky Wright’s card last December against Vitali Tsypko, a move that proved to be disastrous. Lacy won a hometown majority decision, 96-94 (twice) and 95-95.

During the fight he suffered a rotator cuff injury to his left shoulder and required surgery and extensive rehabilitation.

The $64 question is whether surgery and a year of recovery is enough to bring the old Lacy left hook back to life. It took Vernon Forrest two years off and a couple of tentative tune up fights before he finally began to show his old skills.

So there are serious questions about Lacy as he enters the fight. Was he ever anywhere close to the highly touted slugger of pre-Calzaghe days? Like a pitcher in baseball losing miles off his fastball after an injury, will Lacy be able to resume throwing the left hook with the old zip? Is he physically able to return to form in his first fight after surgery?

Make no mistake; Manfredo Jr. is not a world beater. However, he has made strides under the guidance of Freddie Roach in his corner. His movement and speed might give Lacy some problems and the longer the fight goes, the better it is for Manfredo.

Lacy is 22-1 (17); Manfredo Jr. is 28-4 (13).

Lacy is heavily favored but Manfredo just might be a live underdog. In my upset special, I’m picking Manfredo to upset Lacy by split decision.

Daniel Ponce De Leon , 33-1 (30), who seems to be a PPV staple, returns to defend his WBO super bantamweight title against fellow Mexican Eduardo Escobedo, 20-2 (14). De Leon, a hard hitting southpaw whose power wrecked previously undefeated Filipino Rey Bautista in one round in August, should have little trouble with Escobedo, who has decent skills but is unlikely to stand up to De Leon’s all out punching assault.

Look for a De Leon TKO around round seven.

In the opening PPV bout, Edner Cherry, 22-5 (10), takes on Wes Ferguson 17-2 (5) in a 10 round lightweight rematch.

Cherry won a unanimous decision over Ferguson in June in his backyard of Tampa. Ferguson is managed by Floyd Mayweather Jr., and gets a shot for revenge in his adopted home of Las Vegas.

Call me superstitious. I’ll take Ferguson by split decision.

It’s a good undercard, particularly by recent PPV standards. The telecast on HBO PPV is $54.95, and starts at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT.

NOTES:

* Floyd Mayweather Jr. plans to have “Dancing with the Stars” winner Helio Castroneves, and fellow competitors Mark Cuban and Wayne Newton carry his title belts into the ring during his ring walk. I hope they move slowly for Newton’s sake or he might not make it until the third round.

I’d been much more impressed if they were carrying Julianne Hough into the ring.

Floyd’s dance partner Karina Smirnoff and 2006 runner up Mario Lopez will also be in attendance.

* The Hatton team has employed Freddie Roach to supervise the taping of Floyd’s suspect hands, according to an article in the British press. Roach volunteered his services and his experience will spot any attempts to over wrap Floyd’s fragile hands.

When Mayweather was preparing to face Oscar De La Hoya, Roger Mayweather called the 47 year old Roach “a punching bag,” a remark thought by many to be insensitive as Roach suffers from the Parkinson’s Syndrome that also afflicts Muhammad Ali.

*What makes this all the more interesting is the report from Grand Rapids reporter David Mayo that read, “Mayweather did not show up at his boxing gym for the third consecutive day Thursday, two days before the rumble and the day he usually conducts his final light gym workout. The idea that his hands are injured and he is doing all he can to protect them has taken root.”

* Did I hear this right? Are they using a 24 foot ring? Yikes! They might as well tie Hatton’s left hand behind his back while they’re at it.

* Congratulations to Joe Calzaghe for being named the 2007 BBC Sport Personality of the Year for the second year in a row. Joe received 77% of the public vote, Putin type numbers.

* I was hoping that since Bernard Hopkins seems to have no stomach for facing the top light heavyweights, we might get an announcement that he had signed to face Calzaghe by fight night.

Instead several outlets reported on the intense verbal sparring between the two at the MGM Grand media center. Apparently Calzaghe upset Hopkins by referring to his two losses to Jermain Taylor and Hopkins retorted, “ I’ll never let a white boy beat me,” saying it five times and adding, “You can print that.”

Reportedly this was no publicity stunt. (Hopkins is still making payments for the one with Winky Wright.) I’m wondering…Do you think that Hopkins would be offended if Calzaghe had made a similar remark?

Racism is not cool, B-Hop. Just because you shave your head shouldn’t make you a skin-head.

*Calzaghe’s promoter, Frank Warren, confirmed that an offer had been made to Hopkins and he was awaiting a reply.

“We know Bernard wants the fight in America and we’re happy with that,” the promoter said. “We’ve made him a good offer and we’ll make it happen.”

 

i have looked and cannot see any other articles on tonights ring size so i hope this man is wrong as it will not make the competitive fight that we all want to see mayweather fans included .

the ring this size looks vast when 2 small welterweights like hatton and floyd would be in it and tv would not be happy either as if mayweather did decide to get on his bike (i do not think he will ) it could turn into a track meet.

 

that is the size range usually used in all fights doylexxx.

myself i remember the duran leonard rematch and they did use a 24 by 24 only time i can recall seeing a ring this size.

i hope what the boxing reporter heard is wrong and that the fight takes place in a normal size ring.