So unless you've lived under a rock for the past couple of months, last night saw possibly the biggest fight since, well, the last Mayweather fight, as Floyd took on Ricky Hatton at welterweight in a huge undefeated vs undefeated pissing match. More on the fights later, but firstly I'm just glad that they managed to get the fight on. Boxing's more or less been rendered a joke over the past few years for four main reasons:

1 - it's rigged. I can't think of another sport that is so massively influenced by the referees or judges. The fact that PBF-DLH last May was a split decision was a joke (anyone watching it ought to have had PBF up by four rounds at least), could mention dozens more (I'd also like some of the drugs that the guy who had de Leon up ten rounds was taking) but you'd easily get the picture.

2 - too many bullshit titles. It was getting a joke twenty years ago when the IBF and WBO came into the picture, but now there's so many sanctioning organisations that pretty much anyone can win a world title nowadays.

3 - internal politics. It's increasingly rare that rival promoters can get on the fights that people want to see, in fact this year has been a shocker in that we've had two superfights (both of Mayweather's) on.

4 - it's dull. Now that MMA is beginning to grow in popularity, you can increasingly see that boxing is a one-dimensional sport where you rarely see fireworks.

As for the actual fights:

Paul Smith - Francis Cheka: so-so domestic fight at middleweight, dunno what the scorecard read as it was just decided by the referee, but I had it closer than he did in all likelihood.

Dean Francis - Michael Gbenga: boring as fuck. Gbenga, despite being touted as a knockout artist, never threatened, and Francis basically just sat back and fought one-handed for the majority of the fight. Deserved the unanimous decision, but if he thinks he's anywhere near Clinton Woods' class he must be deluded.

Amir Khan - Graham Earl: A demonstration of how to take someone to pwntown. With this result Khan can claim to be the best in the UK easily and among the European elite. A fight for the Lonsdale belt can't be too far around the corner. Also lol @ Earl's comments post-fight saying it shouldn't have been stopped - the referee's not going to stop a fight after 72 seconds for no reason. When he's teeing off with four or five consecutive headshots after you've already been floored, it's probably time to quit.

Chris Edwards - Jamie McDonnel: Pretty good fight for the vacant British super flyweight title, with Edwards putting in the better workrate and winning a split decision, despite McDonnel showing the better skills, albeit infrequently and in patches. A knockout was never likely on the cards, but well worth viewing and it was more important for Edwards to win this one, Jamie still has plenty of time on his side to rebuild.

Gary Woolcombe - Marcus Portman: OK matchup at light middleweight for the British title, ended via a cut at the end of the eighth. Woolcombe looked better overall, but nothing special.

Jason Booth - Matthew Edmonds: Booth dominated for the most part, using his experience well against a younger guy who looked to be stepping up a bit in class and had a lot to learn.

Ali Nuumbembe - Craig Watson: Watson took the Commonwealth welterweight title mainly due to a massive cut to Ali, the fight was somewhat in the balance but Watson appeared to be getting the better of it later on.

Edner Cherry - Wes Ferguson: Pointless lightweight rematch which saw Cherry score the KO in the sixth after Ferguson started to come back into the fight following a quick Cherry start.

Daniel Ponce de Leon - Eduardo Escobedo: Very good world title bout at super bantamweight, cards were a joke (imo the fight was a draw, perhaps Escobedo taking it, instead it's unanimous the other way with one judge scoring Leon ten rounds up) though. Leon's boxing looked terrible and there was no evidence of his supposed knockout power. Escobedo can feel hard done by here.

Jeff Lacy - Peter Manfredo Jr: Dull super middleweight fight between two fighters coming off pwnings at the hands of Joe Calzaghe, Lacy ending up on top comfortably in a points decision but looking a shadow of his former self, and nowhere near getting back in the world title picture. Where Manfredo goes I don't know, probably back into reality tv.

Ricky Hatton - Floyd Mayweather Jr: What had the potential to be a great fight was spoiled by an overzealous referee, interfering every five seconds whenever Hatton was close to getting inside, not allowing him to establish any momentum whatsoever, and later deducting a point for no good reason. I doubt it made a difference (although if you're going to ping Hatton for a rabbit punch, you've also got to ping Mayweather for continually turning away) as besides that one good shot in the first, Hatton didn't land anything of note, whereas Mayweather's speed and surprising ability inside allowed him to take things comfortably, especially after Hatton had to chase after the point deduction, resulting in a near knockdown in the eighth (were it not for falling straight into Floyd that is) in a marginal 10-8 round, and an inevitable KO in the tenth.

So, yeah, when's the next UFC card?