In 2007, after beating Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather had to try and stop the train that was Ricky Hatton.

Last week in this space, we showed the video for one of Manny Pacquiao’s greatest performances. Now we turn our attention to Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd’s fight from 2007 against Ricky Hatton wasn’t a classic by any means. But it was a fight in which he was in there with a guy who was going to come forward, suffocate him, and not let him off the hook like so many other fighters have done. It was really the blueprint to how Marcos Maidana did so well in his first fight with Floyd.

Also, Hatton had the crowd behind him completely. They would cheer loudly even when Hatton missed punches. I have a feeling that the crowd could be similar on Saturday when Mayweather takes on Pacquiao. Pacquiao’s movement is different than Hatton’s, but he may try and suffocate Mayweather with his footwork and hand speed.

Floyd eventually figured Hatton out in the later rounds, but found himself in quite a fight. He used his elbows and pushed off a lot to keep the distance. The hope on Saturday is that Pacquiao will be able to close the distance on Mayweather, similarly.