Boos for American national anthem put British fans to shameRon Lewis
The crowd had been billed as one of Ricky Hatton’s biggest assets against Floyd Mayweather Jr, but it became his greatest liability when large sections of the overwhelmingly British crowd disgraced themselves by booing the national anthem of that the country that was hosting them.

The crowd loudly joined in when Sir Tom Jones sang God Save The Queen. But when Tyrese, the R&B singer, stepped forward to sing The Star- Spangled Banner, the United States national anthem, he was almost drowned out. The singer gamely plugged on, but many were outraged. HBO’s commentators were quick to condemn the fans they had been praising moments earlier and one HBO technician in the ring gave a middle-fingered salute to the crowd.

It certainly seemed to galvanise the American support behind Mayweather. Where they had been very quiet, chants of “USA, USAâ€