By Ed Robinson(Sky Sports Boxing Reporter) Next week I cross the Atlantic for a three week stint in Las Vegas. My home from home will be one of the MGM Grand's 6,852 rooms. Counting down until Michael Buffer says "Let's get ready to Rumble!" I'm there the day before Team Hatton, ready to welcome them with a camera. After suffering with a bad cold when he fought Juan Urango out there, Hatton's staying away from the big hotels on the Strip and their 24-hour air conditioning. This time Ricky's out earlier than ever before and avoiding the big casinos. Ricky's so welcoming and accessible but the same can't always be said for the welterweight champion. It'll be interesting to see what access we get to Mayweather. Apparently HBO, the influential American broadcaster, were kept waiting for two days in Las Vegas. They finally got the call to get down to the gym at one in the morning! On Monday and Tuesday I worked with London based cameraman Stuart Vickery. A couple of weeks ago he got the call to fly to Vegas and film some training plus a sit down interview for Sky Sports News. Disrespectful Local reporter Jon Saraceno, who's known Floyd since his amateur days, arranged the meeting. Stuart set up his lights for the one on one and was ready to go, until Floyd heard his accent. Then the pound-for-pound king branded our man "the enemy" and "disrespectful". He insisted the interview, location and all the lights be moved. Was this a reaction to Floyd's treatment by the Manchester fans on the press tour? Perhaps, but who knows? In the five days that Stuart was there, he witnessed Mayweather train just once and only filmed anything with him twice. On one occasion they met and ten minutes later the Las Vegas based fighter said he didn't fancy it and promptly left. He was also said to be enjoying the bright, late night lights of Vegas at least twice in those five days. Does this mean that Mayweather's taking Hatton lightly? Or is it a strategy to let us think so? In fairness Mayweather did give a long, animated interview despite the fun and games. And if Floyd's a night owl and his own boss, so what? Prince Naseem Hamed was the same for years and still knocked back challenger after challenger. Until, that is, he ran into Marco Antonio Barrera at the MGM Grand... School Barrera was a big underdog for that one. Stepping up in weight, the aggressive Mexican looked tailor-made for Naz. The gulf in sheer talent looked immense - until the first bell. Then the self-styled Baby-Faced Assassin took Hamed to school. This content is protected Why? Well sometimes people underestimate the craft and skill of a come-forward fighter. Or perhaps Hamed was complacent, maybe the life style, the hype, the backslapping, it all caught up with him. Could the same be true here? Oh, and by the way, Barrera walked Hatton into the ring with Wayne Rooney for the Jose Luis Castillo fight. They have plenty in common... How big an event is this? The trade publication, Boxing News, is working on a 12-page pull-out special for their preview edition. It's the first time in their 98-year history that they've done so. And who does their editor Claude Abrams pick to win? He hasn't decided yet...
