Britain's biggest yet

Messrs Watt, Nelson, McCrory, Piper and McCullough dissect the big fight - starting with its place in boxing history.

Sky Sports boasts the premier pundits on boxing and for the build-up to Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather they will all be sharing their thoughts with you right here on skysports.com. That means the insight and analysis of three former world champions and a Commonwealth champion, with 27 world title fights between them, as Jim Watt, Johnny Nelson, Glenn McCrory and Nicky Piper pour over the possibilities and probabilities. And former world champion Wayne McCullough, with nine world title fights to his name, will be joining the debate Stateside to give another angle on the biggest fight featuring a Briton for years. The panel will look at both fighters, where the fight can be won or lost, what they expect and of course, as that first bell draws nearer, we will be asking them for predictions... But first up, Messrs Watt, McCrory, Nelson, Piper and McCullough set the scene... SKYSPORTS.COM: Simple question to start with: put this fight in context. Is Hatton-Mayweather the biggest fight involving a British fighter ever? Where would you rank it? GLENN McCRORY: In terms of British boxing this has got to be up there with the magnitude of Randy Turpin fighting Sugar Ray Robinson. This is the best fighter in the world we are talking about in Floyd Mayweather, and a very, very good British fighter. Yes, we have had the likes of Dave Boy Green fighting Sugar Ray Leonard, Tony Sibson and Alan Minter fighting Marvin Hagler, but nothing like this. Even Minter, although he was world champion was the underdog because Hagler had such an aura about him. And we have had the plucky underdogs like Lloyd Honeyghan that have beaten the best in Don Curry, but The Cobra had an awful lot going on behind the scenes. And even then it was a massive upset - you won't be able to say the same if Ricky beats Mayweather. JOHNNY NELSON: Putting it into perspective Henry Cooper against Muhammad Ali was the biggest fight in British boxing history as far as I am concerned, right up there at the top of the tree. I agree that Honeyghan-Curry put bums on sears, but he was well past his peak. But this is the best in the world at the top of his game we're talking about here. Even though he had retired - and he did so out of boredom - fighters take longer breaks between fights than Floyd has been out of the game! Personally I thought we'd seen the very best of Ricky Hatton two years ago, but each time he has shown us something more. He'll need to again. JIM WATT: You can talk about Turpin-Robinson and Henry Cooper-Muhammad Ali and other massive fights and although I am a bit loathe to say it, this has to be bigger. We're looking at two great fighters, two undefeated fighters with a barrel-load of fights behind them and both at their peak. Mayweather is established as the best in the world and right now, I don't think anyone else out there, except Ricky Hatton, can put up a serious argument against it. If you want to look at other Britons, Joe Calzaghe as respected as he is after destroying Jeff Lacy, doesn't want to fight over in America and they don't like it. NICKY PIPER: From British boxing and the marketing side, you can't really put it into words. It is a reminder to those people that are always knocking boxing that every now and then a fight comes along that draws attention like no other. And it shuts up all that rubbish we keep hearing about Ultimate Fighting taking over. Nothing that can do will come anywhere near this. No way. No other fight will have had the build-up like this. I don't think America has any idea what it's in for when Hatton's travelling fans arrive. No foreign boxer will ever come close to bringing that support to Las Vegas - and I'm not sure any American would either. WAYNE McCULLOUGH: I agree. There have been several huge fights involving British fighters over the years, including Frank Bruno fighting Mike Tyson. Their two meetings took place in Las Vegas and I'm sure every fighter dreams of fighting there since it is known as the boxing capital of the world. In doing just that, Hatton is coming to Mayweather's backyard - since he now lives there - to try to dethrone him - and the whole world will be watching. SS.COM: He's out of it now, but the build-up started with Floyd tripping the light fantastic in Dancing with the Stars. What did that tell you? McCRORY: It was fantastic news for Ricky. It's what he wanted, Mayweather spending five hours a day in his lycra suit. My wife is a dancer and although I am can just about manage the McCrory Mambo rather than any fancy salsa stuff, I know how hard it is. The movement, rhthym and agility will have suited him as a boxer, but most of what you do in the ring is mental. Floyd will already be in shape so it his preparation for Hatton will be all about his mental focus, training the mind. I can't see how he could have done that, in any way whatsover, doing Dancing with the Stars. Everyone should have voted to keep Floyd on the show, because the longer he stayed there the better Ricky's chances got! WATT: It was just crazy. I have to admit I have stumbled across our version over here a couple of time (waiting for something else to come on, I must add!) and all the contestants talk about is the hard work they have to put in. They don't want to embarrass themselves and Mayweather will be putting a lot of time into this, believe me. I remember Roy Jones playing a basketball game on the day of a fight, but he was so flash and so far above the level of his opponents back then, that he could get away with it. It suggested to me Mayweather still doesn't think Hatton's a problem for him. PIPER: It just showed the ego of the man! He can't resist the limelight can he? But it also shows his confidence in much the same way Roy Jones did with the semi-professional basketball. I am not sure he is under-estimating Ricky, I think he is more than aware of the scale of what's in front of him, just supremely confident in his own ability. He is always 100 per cent in condition and even though Hatton thrives on being fitter than his opponents, particularly later on in fights, he won't have that this time around. McCULLOUGH: Floyd isn't dumb. He was commuting back and forward from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and he is always in shape. He was voted off two weeks ago, so he'll have had more time to prepare and focus on this upcoming fight. But just like Ricky, I'm sure he's been taking it seriously.
NELSON: I think it was a clever move. By getting involved in Dancing with the Stars everybody was expecting Floyd to under-estimate Ricky, but he will train as hard, or even harder for this - and believe me, he lives the life. It will have made no difference. Every fighter has a couple of hours downtime a day and it will not have affected him physically. Mentally it might have given him something else to think about, but sometimes it can be beneficial to take your mind off the fight. Next time: The Panel discuss Hatton's move up in weight and ponder just how good the Pretty Boy is...