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RICKY HATTON v FLOYD MAYWEATHER

Saturday night sees the fight of the decade take place at Las Vegas as Britain's Ricky Hatton aims for greatness on a grand scale when he takes on Floyd Mayweather.

The American pretty boy is generally regarded as the finest pound for pound fighter on the planet and victory for Hatton would propel him into the pantheon of all-time greats.

This fight has sent tremors across the betting industry thanks to the sheer weight of money on this fight. At Sportingbet it's no different, with bets struck over the last six months on this epic contest.

Now with just hours to go the Sportingbet traders go into the fight with mixed feelings as Affiliate Sportsbook Manager Chris Graham explains, "We'd all like Ricky Hatton to win as his courage and commitment all there for all to see but if he wins we're looking at a big payout on Sunday morning that will leave us with a more painful head than Ricky or Floyd's! Over the last week we've saw bundles of cash for The Hitman and his price has gone as short as 33/20. We're hoping The Pretty Boy can keep a smile on our face over the weekend."

Here are Sportingbet's latest odds on the contest:

• Fight Winner Floyd Mayweather 11/20 Draw 22/1
• Ricky Hatton 33/20
• Total Rounds Over 11.5 Rounds 2/5 Under 11.5 Rounds 2/1
• Hatton to win fight and win BBC Sports Personality 3/1
• Fight to end in Rounds 1 - 4 7/1

Boxing Rematch: Wladimir Klitschko vs. Lamon Brewster

"Dr. Steelhammer" takes another crack at "Relentless" in Cologne, Germany on Saturday night with the IBF World Heavyweight title on the line.

For anyone not familiar with the nicknames currently gracing boxing's largely nondescript heavyweight ranks, Dr. Steelhammer is current IBF and IBO title-holder Wladimir Klitschko, while the man they call Relentless is challenger Lamon Brewster. This will be the second time these two fighters will clash, and Klitschko will be out to avenge a defeat from three years ago. In that initial matchup back on April 10, 2004, Brewster won the vacant WBO Heavyweight title after delivering a fifth-round knockout to Klitschko.

That boxing fight is remembered for more than the mere fact that Brewster won the title. Klitschko easily won the first four rounds after dominating Brewster with an onslaught of punches, which included knocking Brewster down at the end of the fourth round. In the fifth round, Brewster erupted with a flurry of his own that included a heavy right hand in the final seconds of the round that sent Klitschko to the canvas. Klitschko barely got to his feet ahead of the count, but after the round ended he hit the floor again and remained there long enough and was unresponsive, so the fight was called in Brewster's favor. There have been numerous accusations out of Klitschko's camp that he had been drugged prior to the fight due to a low blood sugar level reported at the hospital after the fight, but nothing was ever confirmed.

Since that fight Brewster has only fought four times due to injury. After beating Klitschko, Brewster rolled through Kali Meehan, Andrew Golota and Luan Krasniqi before losing his title in an exciting 12-round brawl with Serguei Lyakhovich that he fought without full use of his left eye after the first round. After the fight, it was discovered that Brewster had suffered a detached retina in his left eye that required surgery. That surgery and subsequent healing time kept Brewster out of the ring for over a year and his rematch against Klitschko will be his first fight in 15 months.

Since losing against Brewster, Klitschko has won six straight fights, including a TKO of Chris Byrd to win the IBF title, and another TKO against challenger Calvin Brock. In his last fight on March 10 versus Ray Austin, which was also held in Germany, Klitschko delivered an impressive second-round knockout after catching Austin with four furious left hooks.

Klitschko is the favorite in the rematch, due to the fact that he's the reigning champ and because of Brewster's long layoff. Since his exhausting loss to Brewster, Klitschko has improved his fight stamina and begun clinching more to give himself a breather when he needs it in the ring. But most of the experts agree that Klitschko hasn't faced a heavy hitter like Brewster since his loss. If Brewster can deliver another round of wicked right hands, he could make it two-for-two versus Klitschko and take his title.

By Fabian Hagar

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Holyfield defeats fellow veteran

Four-time world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Lou Savarese in El Paso, Texas on Saturday, 30th June.

Holyfield, 44, knocked Savarese down in the fourth round with a right to the body and nearly finished him at the end of the ninth with a left hook. Savarese, three years Holyfield's junior, was reeling in the 10th but hung on to see out the round.

Afterwards, Holyfield vowed not to retire until he had won a fifth world crown. "Lou is a veteran and a very difficult fighter," said Holyfield. "He was hitting me with uppercuts, and hurt me with a few of them."

Holyfield, with three defeats in his last seven bouts, improved his record to 43-8-2 and rejected talk he was over the hill. "Age is just a number," he said. "I think I proved that today. I am still determined and I'm happy with my performance. "I will not quit until I am a five-times world champion."

Holyfield vs. Savarese

It may seem like a joke, but at the grizzled age of 44 Evander Holyfield is attempting to become Heavyweight champion of the world again. To get that title shot, Holyfield might not even have to face a much younger man. The "Real Deal's" next boxing fight is coming up on June 30 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, where he'll face 41-year-old Lou Savarese in a 10-round non-title bout.

The way old boxers are hanging around way past their primes and stepping back into the boxing ring after supposedly retiring these days, perhaps they should make a boxing senior circuit.

Since making his return to the ring a little more than a year ago, Evander Holyfield has said he wants to win back a heavyweight title by the time he turns 46. Holyfield may not have the speed and power of his youth anymore, but according to him he has the smarts in the ring to beat his younger challengers.

In his last three fights Holyfield has proven himself to be right. In August 2006, he dominated 33-year-old Jeremy Bates in a fight that was stopped in the second round after Holyfield beat Bates to a pulp. A few months later in November 2006, Holyfield won a unanimous decision after going 10 rounds with 34-year-old Fres Oquendo. In his most recent fight in March of this year, Holyfield delivered a second-round TKO to 33-year-old Vinny Maddalone. Those three wins gave Holyfield a lifetime record of 41-8-2 with 27 knockouts, and illustrated that he may not be completely done beating up on other boxers just yet.

Savarese also stepped back into the ring last year after a bit of an absence. You may recognize Savarese more from his recent acting roles than from his boxing career. The fighter has appeared in The Sopranos, Law and Order SVU, and portrayed Max Baer in a James J. Braddock documentary on ESPN. In his first boxing fight in nearly two years, Savarese faced Marcus Rhode in March 2006 and was victorious after delivering a second-round knockout. He returned to the ring again in January 2007, and sent Travis Fulton to the canvas in the third round. After those two wins, Savarese's record stands at 46-6, with 38 knockouts.

Don't let Savarese's recent knockouts fool you, though. During his prime he wouldn't have been a match for Holyfield and he still doesn't compare to the former heavyweight champ, even though they're both over 40. Reports are that this is Holyfield's last step before getting a shot at WBO Heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov. If that rumor has any truth to it, Holyfield has all the motivation he will need to put Savarese flat on his back.

Check out the Boxing Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook!!!

2007 Mayweather Jr. vs. De La Hoya

The "Golden Boy" takes on the "Pretty Boy" next Saturday night when Oscar De La Hoya takes on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their long-awaited superfight May 5th in Las Vegas.

Mayweather Jr. is considered by many experts to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but he's not an overwhelming favorite versus the more experienced De La Hoya. One reason may be that Mayweather Jr. has never fought someone of De La Hoya's size, and he's moving up to middleweight (from welterweight) to take part in the boxing fight.

Mayweather Jr. enters this fight with perfect 37-0 record, which includes 24 knockouts. He last stepped into the ring on November 4, 2006 when he faced Carlos Baldomir. Mayweather Jr. danced around and toyed with Baldomir for 12 boxing rounds and ended up with a unanimous decision. In the post-fight press conference Mayweather Jr. hinted that he might retire following his next fight, which means the De La Hoya fight could be his swan song in professional boxing.

De La Hoya enters this bout with a 38-4 pro record that includes 30 knockouts. His last fight took place nearly a year ago on May 6, 2006 when he faced Richardo Mayorga. From the opening round De La Hoya was in control as he dropped Mayorga to the canvas early on. In the sixth round De La Hoya sent Mayorga sprawling again with an assortment of wicked jabs and hooks, and the fight was called giving De La Hoya a sixth-round TKO victory.

It's hard to say who will be feeling more pressure to win this fight. If this truly is Mayweather Jr.'s final fight he'll want to go out a champion, and taking away De La Hoya's WBC Super Welterweight belt would be a crowning achievement. For De La Hoya a win would add another talented boxer to his list of vanquished opponents and give him back some of the luster his ring career has lost over the last few years after losses to Bernard Hopkins and "Sugar" Shane Mosley.

There could have been some added controversy to this fight if not for some haggling over money. Mayweather's estranged father, former welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Sr., was in talks to train De La Hoya for this fight before money issues got in the way and De La Hoya decided to go with famed trainer Freddie Roach. It would have made for some interesting prop bets if Mayweather Sr. had ended up in his son's opponent's corner during one of the biggest fights of his life.

Check out the Boxing Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook!!!