Mayweather on weight limit for Hatton fight

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr tipped the scales right on the 147-pound limit on the eve of his WBC welterweight title fight with Britain's Ricky Hatton.

Challenger Hatton was two pounds lighter at the weigh-in held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the site of Saturday's bout, in front of a crowd of 6,000 almost exclusively British fans.

The two fighters stood nose-to-nose after the weigh-in with Hatton waving the American away as he took the microphone to tell his fans: "What can I say for a turnout like that?"

Members of the raucous crowd, who sang soccer chants plus several renditions of "God Save the Queen" and "There's only one Ricky Hatton", had queued for up to five hours for a chance to catch a glimpse of the fighters on Friday.

The 16,800-seat arena sold out within 30 minutes of tickets going on sale for the fight in September and Internet resale sites are offering ringside seats for almost $13,000.

More than 10,000 British fans were expected to make the journey to watch the showdown at the arena or at one of several closed-circuit venues along the Las Vegas strip.

FAST PACE

Mayweather, who has a 38-0 record, is widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world but Oscar De La Hoya, who was the last man to fight him, believes underdog Hatton, 43-0, has a strong chance of winning the fight.

"People are underestimating (Hatton's) speed and his footwork," De La Hoya, who is promoting the bout, told reporters.

"He has to keep popping that jab. You know he's not going to tire out. He's going to keep that fast pace for twelve rounds."

Mayweather beat De La Hoya by split decision in the same arena on May 5, in the highest-grossing fight in history.

De La Hoya believes Mayweather runs the risk of taking Hatton too lightly and suffering a letdown in the aftermath of that bout.

"When Mayweather fought me, he'd been dreaming about that fight for years, for all his life," said De La Hoya.

"When you start losing your focus, because you just took part in the biggest fight in the history of the sport, then you start thinking things like, 'Hatton can't be that tough.'"

LESS INCENTIVE

Light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, De La Hoya's business partner, echoed that theme.

"Floyd had a lot of stuff he wanted to prove with that (De La Hoya) fight," he said.

"He'd called Oscar out for years, and Oscar was training with Floyd's father, which Floyd had a problem with at that time, and he had more incentive to be at the top of his game mentally. And he doesn't have that any more."

Britain's undefeated world super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe said he believes the fight "is going to be a war".

"I just think Ricky's in the best shape he's ever been in," he told Reuters. "I think he wants it more than Mayweather.

"He can't outbox Floyd, he can't stand off from a distance. He has to jump on him early. It is very important that in the first four rounds he stamps his authority, maybe hurts Floyd, and gets him out of his rhythm."

But Calzaghe cautioned that Hatton "can't be careless. Floyd can punch incredibly fast. (Hatton) has a tremendous engine, and Floyd's a tremendous fighter. It's going to be a great fight."

(Editing by Tony Jimenez and Ken Ferris)