And the talking's on: Mayweather, Hatton get started

The December 8th showdown between undefeated champions Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Ricky Hatton is a pretty hotly-anticipated bout, even by those of us who see it as a no-contest on paper. And one thing I did know we'd get was some good hype talk.

Well, they've started.

From Floyd:

"Floyd Mayweather is the face of boxing. Ricky Hatton will get his biggest payday by fighting me. Oscar got his biggest payday. Zab Judah, Arturo Gatti, Baldomir. All of them. Once a fighter gets in there with me, he's faced with the truth. Inside that ring, it's one-on-one, the truth."

"There are A fighters and B fighters and C fighters. I don't know what Hatton is. Punch-hold, every fight, that's all he do. He wrestled Kostya Tszyu to death. Who have you beat? An over-the-hill Kostya Tszyu and Castillo. I beat Castillo when he was in his prime over six years ago."

"Listen, I respect tennis, I respect golf, but this is not a gentleman's sport. So if you have a chance to get one up on your enemy and size him up before you go at each other, that's what I'm going to do."

"This is like a routine, we do this over and over again and we already know what the results are going to be. I don't know his record, but he fought Jose Luis Castillo who was over the hill. He hit Castillo to the body, who did a 360 turn and took five steps to the side of the ropes and went down on one knee. We all know what that is - a phantom body shot."

"OK, we know he fought Kostya Tszyu but how long had he been laid off before he fought (Hatton)? When a guy's been laid off for a year of course he's going to have a problem making weight, he's going to be dehydrated when he fights, and he's not going to be able to step to the plate and be at his best."

From Hatton:

"Fans like me because they can relate to me. I'm like the man in the crowd. And I do the same that any 28-year-old guy does -- drink a pint with my mates."

"Floyd says he's going to slap me back to London. What does that mean? Is that supposed to intimidate me? That's a pretty boy trying to look and sound scary. He's not scaring me because I can't understand a word he's saying. I think it upsets him more than me. Everybody respects Floyd for his talent. Where do you draw the line with selling tickets and showing a little respect? He's shown absolutely no respect to me or to everyone. I think it's a lack of class."

(On "Dancing With the Stars"): "I don't know how good a dancer Floyd is but if he's no good it could be over in a fortnight, so it won't matter, will it? But if he gets to the final it will take a lot of his time up, so vote Floyd."