Given his propensity for sinking pints and frequenting fish andchip shops, one shudders to imagine how Ricky Hatton celebratedgetting back his world light-welterweight title last weekend in hisfirst fight in Las Vegas. After all, it is Sin City, an oasis ofexcess in a land ravaged by obesity. The 'Hitman' had stepped up aweight division, then back down again. With [pound]2 million in thepocket of his shorts, he is probably a heavyweight by now.
He might even struggle to beat that cinematic heavyweight Rocky,even if the latter is in his fifties in the sixth instalment in theseries, Rocky Balboa. The director and star, Sylvester Stallone, isnow 61, incidentally, although of course if would be ridiculous toput a fighter back in the ring at that age... Rocky returns to thefray three decades after the first film came out, and lines up afight against the heavyweight champion Mason 'The Line' Dixon.
For Stallone it's a case of 'Let's get ready to mumble'. Time hastaken its toll. They have torn down Rocky's statue. When he runs upthe steps of Philadelphia's city hall, he has his dog on a lead. Hesays things like: 'Sometimes it's hard to breathe.' Now that reallyis getting on a bit. But as ITV's Lisa Snowdon revealed in aninterview to accompany the film's premiere in London, to haul hisbulk into some semblance of shape for the film Stallone worked outfor six-and-a-half hours a day in the ring and the gym, six days aweek. Hatton surely did not stick to such a rigorous regime. But atleast he didn't go into the ring at the Paris Vegas Hotel showingoff more gristle than Madonna.
Amir Khan and Joe Calzaghe were in Leicester Square to meet theirhero, Calzaghe saying the Rockys were 'the greatest sports filmsever made'. Real boxers really like them. The authenticity is allthere, too, the producers hijacking a real Vegas fight night, withthe famous caller Michael Buffer doing the announcing and Mike Tysonat ringside - a scary enough proposition in itself.
Stallone was not faking it, even though he was fighting a realformer world light-heavyweight champion in Antonio Tarver. 'Everypunch in the movie that you see hit is a hit,' Stallone revealedwith that permanently wry smile. 'The second knockdown was real.Rocky was only supposed to get hit once, but we left it in.' And hereally seems to know his stuff. He was inspired by Chuck Wepner, theonly man to knock down Muhammad Ali when he held the worldheavyweight belt. In fact Stallone was more like Ali himself in the'Rumble in the Jungle' against George Foreman in Zaire in 1974,hanging on the ropes and taking an absurd amount of blows beforelaunching his counterattack. Perhaps his role model should actuallyhave been Foreman, who at 46 regained his heavyweight crown againstMichael Moorer 20 years after winning it for the first time.
But it is rather sad to see a film about an ageing boxerreturning to the ring, given Ali's terrible state at the age of 65.His doctor, Ferdie Pacheco, had quit because Ali refused to stop,and he fought 10 more times after that.
Rocky Balboa's premise is a computer-generated fight betweenRocky and Mason Dixon, which the 'Italian Stallion' wins. The storyis based on an actual computerised match-up in 1969 when anotherRocky, Marciano, was pitted against Ali and won. Stallone insiststhis is the last Rocky. But with a fourth Rambo offering inproduction, who would bet against a Vegas match-up between Rocky andRambo?
