I’ve got Paulie on points, no knock-downs.

I’ve got Kirk by 2nd round KO.

Seen these guys spar quite a few rounds. My reasoning for the pick is explosive power and Kirk’s attitude, but if it goes past four/five rounds Vera will start wearing Kirk down like a poor-man’s Margo. Vera is legitimately tough, he enjoys the grind of the fight.

I expect his hair to be dyed of some color for the fight… I say red…

Prediction… Kirkland KO in the 4th round.

Paulie gets a UD 116/111.

There is confusion with Mayweather and Hatton. Hatton doesn’t understand him and asks one of the HBO guys for a translator.

Billy Graham is shown passed out after the 5th round…

Fight time…

Cool… they showed some showtimes clips to hype Kirkland

Yeah…. liked that Lampley took a shot at the IBF.

Vera coming out with the double jab, Kirkland winging left hand power shots. Vera with a right. Hard left from Kirkland, and he’s trying to start fast. Vera misses a long right, Kirkland doesn’t get too aggressive about it. Stiff jab from Kirkland. James is obviously the guy pressing, but Vera isn’t dying on these shots like so many have. And James is definitely no animal thus far, just fighting hard and smart.

Left uppercut from Kirkland and another shot. Vera’s looking really slow with his hands. Vera’s getting hit a lot, nothing huge but definitely effective. Right from Vera near the end of the round. Good round for James.

Kirkland 10-9

Vera wobbled on a body shot, and Kirkland smells blood. DOWN GOES VERA ON AN UPPERCUT! He’s cut.

Vera comes back throwing. Vera backed down again. Right from Vera, Kirkland coming back and just nailing him repeatedly. They’re throwing BOMBS now. Vera with three big right hands! He’s loading up that right. That big, lazy right. HBO team says the cut was from an incidental headbutt.

This is sloppy, fun brawling. Looks like two drunks throwing shots at each other. Kirkland is getting hit plenty now. Stiff left from Kirkland, and Vera goes down from another shot just a moment later! Vera seems to think it was another headbutt.

Kirkland 10-7
Kirkland 20-16

His legs are toast

Vera, bless him, is definitely trying to scrap, but you can see his bad balance. Kirkland TAGGING him, and HARD! Vera just keeps fighting, though. Fuck, he’s a tough bastard.

Wind-up shot to the belly from James. The Hatton fans are starting up already. Drummer got in.

Stiff left from Kirkland, body shot, and he’s hurting Vera so much. Vera keeps throwing back as hard as he can, but he’s just not going so well. Vera getting hit again. He’s a tough fucker. He’s getting hurt to the body, hurt upstairs, and his legs are dying.

Kirkland 10-9
Kirkland 30-25

Now than he did a couple years ago. Still needs to learn how to cover up when he throws though.

Vera throwing hard, but Kirkland is still the one landing the best shots. But those rights from Vera do count, and if he catches Kirkland, then hey, who knows?

Kirkland hits him with about five shots inside. Jesus. Kirkland wings a big left uppercut but doesn’t connect. This is the closest round, but Vera still looks like an undisciplined chump in comparison most moments. Body shot from Vera, one from Kirkland. Uppercut from James.

Body shot, right hook from Kirkland. Uppercut from Kirkland. Vera with a HUGE right hand! This is the war of attrition we expected. ANOTHER big right lands! Well we’ve got a fight. It might not be close on the cards, but it’s fun.

Kirkland 10-9
Kirkland 40-34

Big lefts from Kirkland, Vera just eats them. What the hell does he have for breakfast? Rocks?

Kirkland is beating the shit out of him now. He’s hitting jabs, body shots, lefts to the dome. Right uppercut lands. Right from Vera. Stiff jab from Kirkland. Vera either can’t or won’t move his head. Lampley notes that James Kirkland is in the black Everlast trunks. He’s also the black guy.

Vera with a counter right, but there were a few Kirkland shots there. Vera is just getting KILLED right now. Kirkland is unloading. Jesus, go down, Brian.

HARD uppercut from Kirkland at the end of a two-punch combo. MASSIVE left from Kirkland just moments later. My God, how is he standing?

Kirkland 10-9
Kirkland 50-43

Kirkland 51%
Vera 15%

This is, for all intents and purposes, a massacre. And it’s flying by.

Vera going to the body. Kirkland comes back, doing what he’s been doing all night. They’re trying to keep this interesting by talking up the Andy Lee comeback, but eh. Kirkland isn’t fading yet, either.

Kirkland is meeting some mild resistance with Vera trying his best to stay away. And now Vera stands in there and trades short punches. Lampley thinks Kirkland is tiring — he may be right.

Body shot from Kirkland, and Vera’s knees buckle just a bit. UPPERCUT and RIGHT HOOK from Kirkland. How is Vera taking these shots?

Kirkland 10-9
Kirkland 60-52

Hard right from Vera, and another lands. That’s about all that Vera’s had all night, that occasional wound-up, slow right hand that gets through. Kirkland charges with a left to the body, then a STRAIGHT left to the face with emphasis! Uppercut lands, a bit short. Kirkland is just owning this fight.

Left, right, left, right, left from Kirkland. Thudding blows. Stiff jab snaps Vera’s head back again. Right hook from Kirkland. Jab lands again. Triples up on it now. Straight left comes through with no zip, but still lands on Vera. He’s just pot-shotting him now. He’s doing it with ease through the final portion of the round. Vera’s corner ought to think about calling this off. He’s tough and all, but what good does this do him?

Kirkland 10-9
Kirkland 70-61

Kirkland does his best Roy Jones impression.

Body shot from Kirkland stings Vera again. BIG left from Kirkland. Vera just can’t do anything. He is triple tough and I commend that, but seriously, what’s he proving at this point? He’s not going to knock Kirkland out. He even lands another right there.

GOOD LORD, down goes Vera on a body shot and a right hook. Vera keeps smiling and saying he’s not hurt. He is piece of i-ron.

HARD body shot, right uppercut, and thankfully Vic Drakulich just steps in and ends this. It was a slaughter.

James Kirkland TKO-8

283/532, 53%
64/470, 14%

Absurd.

Great stoppage in my opinion. Right when his head went back that was it in my opinion.

is to ensure that every time he enters the ring, his hairstyle is even worse than the last time he fought.

My GF thinks his hairstyle looks like M.C. Escher took a shit on his head.

Bayless if the ref…

Bautista should have never fought DeLeon….

Paulie promised some big entrance.

Beckham in the house…

The fans are unleashed.

Stiff jab from Paulie when Ricky comes in. Hatton with a body shot, then goes up. Paulie jabbing and moving. Quick left hook from Malignaggi. Hatton trying to work the body. Paulie’s ducking a lot, making Ricky work to find him. Hatton finding Paulie a bit inside. Two quick, sharp jabs from Paulie. For all the boxing talk, Ricky’s not jabbing whatsoever.

Paulie, too, is holding his own when Ricky tries to bully.

Malignaggi 10-9

Buddy McGirt: “He’s just the same old Ricky Hatton, baby, ain’t nothin’ changed.”

Ricky is looking more willing to bounce around, trying to make Paulie move while Paulie makes him move. Quick left from Paulie just gets past the glove. Hatton swinging at Malignaggi inside, but missing as Malignaggi moves out too fast. Left from Paulie as Hatton boldly dives in. Very sloppy by Ricky.

Malignaggi with a right after a missed uppercut. Paulie is moving around really, really well, and may be frustrating Hatton. Ricky just can’t find him with a solid shot. STIFF right from Hatton stings the shit out of Paulie, and Paulie HANGS ON FOR DEAR LIFE!

Another right lands! Paulie is getting drilled! Malignaggi is tougher than nails, but those are clean shots. He’s cut under the left eye. BIG late-round spring for Ricky. Wow.

Hatton 10-9
19-19

I thought he touched the canvas when he was trying to hang on.,

This is starting to look like Hatton-Castillo.

Paulie jabbing away again, Ricky trying to stay with him punch-for-punch. Paulie having his left arm held and taking some shots from Ricky. That’s vintage Hatton.

Malignaggi with a nice left. Paulie’s finding pace again, but there’s a pot shot right from Ricky. Ricky tries to dig inside. Paulie pops him with a couple more shots. Digging right to the body by Ricky after a shot from Paulie. This is as interesting as it should have been. Both guys look good in spells.

HUGE left hook from Ricky Hatton! Right on the button! Straight right from Hatton, and Paulie holds. It’s Paulie holding, not Ricky.

Hatton 10-9
Hatton 29-28

Nice jab from Malignaggi. Snaps it off again, then avoids the Hatton rush. Hard hooks from Hatton. Big pop from Hatton again. Hatton clubs with a right hand. Malignaggi is getting hurt a bit. Ricky is content to throw harder, bigger shots. Paulie can’t hurt him.

Uppercut from Malignaggi out of the clinch. Uppercut thrown again — Buddy told him to throw more, but that one missed. Hatton comes in with the left, that misses too. Paulie, I think, is finding out that Ricky Hatton is a better fighter than he expected.

Hatton 10-9
Hatton 39-37

Hatton getting caught some coming in in the first minute. Right from Hatton. Stylistically, this is breaking down a little bit. Paulie is working as hard as he can, but he’s fighting the wrong fight. There isn’t a whole lot to talk about anymore — Hatton is fighting his fight, and it’s working.

Hatton 10-9
Hatton 49-46

Hatton winging lefts right after the bell. He’s catching Paulie off and on, and about halfway into the round he’s nailing him again. Paulie is maybe — and I don’t count him out or think he’s bad — just out of his league. He isn’t hitting Hatton as he should be, isn’t slipping Hatton as he should be. This is a heck of a nice performance from Hatton.

Paulie landed some shots this round, though, and I think he won this round, but just barely. Hatton didn’t press as much as he could have. Debatable round.

Malignaggi 10-9
Hatton 58-56

Hurrld is at 5-1 for Hatton. Absolutely understandable. He landed the better shots. I just thought Pauie did enough to eke out the round. I’ve also had a few, so whatever.

Hatton with three and four punch combos, and Paulie’s getting hurt this round. Hatton is unloading with big lefts. Malingaggi with a right, Hatton responds immediately with a left. Paulie is landing some good stuff right now, too, though. Paulie with a right. Hatton throws back. Right and a left from Hatton. Nice, nice combo. Perfectly timed.

Hatton ends the round with a big left walking in, and that’s a punctuation.

Hatton 10-9
Hatton 68-65

I think he might have broken his hand… in round 6 they said all his punches were jabs…

Nice combo from Paulie, knocking Ricky back. Hatton with a wicked body shot that no doubt Paulie felt. Big left from Hatton. Trade of shots inside, Paulie’s right — demanded by Buddy — is working this round. Shots inside from Hatton. Paulie just cannot beat Hatton, I don’t think. This is a lot more lopsided than I thought it would be. Paulie’s boxing just isn’t working.

Uppercut from Hatton after a left shakes Malignaggi again. He’s been hurt several times. Ricky looks way, way better than he did in May. Paulie’s doing ALL the holding, basically, and it’s…he cannot win.

Hatton 10-9
Hatton 78-74

Paulie has already lost the fight in my opinion… He isn’t going to get a KO. His victory is showing that he will not go down or get KO’ed

Stiff left from Hatton. Stinging left hook really hurts Malignaggi. You know it hurt because he made a big show about making a face. Tape comes loose for Ricky, and Lampley references that shoe-tying incident in Manchester.

Hatton shaking Paulie up again after the break. Malignaggi can’t do anything. Where does Paulie go from here, really? We know where Ricky’s going.

Hatton 10-9
Hatton 88-83

Do all fighters of Italian descent have hand problems? Malignaggi, Gatti, Calzaghe, etc….

Any prominent Italians with strong hands?

Hatton pressing and firing rights and lefts. Every round, he storms Paulie and tests his will right off. Malignaggi looks like he’s hanging on for dear life, doing all he can just to survive. It’s sort of admirable, but the fight isn’t goinig anywhere at this point. Ricky wants a knockout, but I don’t think he’ll find one.

Hatton 10-9
Hatton 98-92

Hatton comes out hard again.

Buddy McGirt stops the fight!

Ricky Hatton TKO-11

Paulie thought he was better than being stopped…. but in the end it is hard as a trainer to see your fighter get hit more than he should get hit.