ESPN Boxing

Going back, almost to the time of the Great Flood, British and American fighters have crossed the big pond known as the Atlantic Ocean to prove their superiority over one another.

The first great cross-Atlantic contest between representatives of England and the United States came back in 1860 when John C. Heenan, the American heavyweight titleholder, commuted over to England on one of those newfangled steamships to take on Britain's best, Tom Sayers, in what was called "The Great Contest."

After two hours and six minutes of gouging and mauling under the old London Prize Fight Rules, the official verdict of "Draw-37" (for the 37 rounds they had fought) was rendered with both warriors being awarded silver championship belts for their efforts.

Since the Sayers-Heenan to-do, there have been many other "great contests" between American and British fighters with the outcome more clearly defined than merely "Draw-37."

James C. Corbett solidifed his claim as "world" heavyweight champion by beating England's Charley Mitchell in 1894. Jimmy Barry won undisputed recognition as world bantamweight champion with a 20-round KO of Walter Croot in London 1896.

Britain's Ted "Kid" Lewis and American Jack Britton put on a traveling road show, fighting each other 20 times for the welterweight title in the 19-teens with the title going back and forth between the two like a shuttlecock. And Tommy Farr journeyed over to America to challenge Joe Louis for his heavyweight championship in 1937, surprising all by taking Louis the distance.

In more recent times, Sugar Ray Robinson went over to London's Earle Court in 1951 and left behind his middleweight belt in Randy Turpin's hands. Three months later, Robinson returned the favor, stopping Turpin in 10 at New York's Polo Grounds, evening the score at 1-1.

Other hands and fists across-the-water rivalries haven't been as even in their outcomes as those above, with Marvelous Marvin Hagler traveling to London in 1980 to lift the middleweight crown off the head of Brit Alan Minter in three rounds -- a result greeted by British boxing fans more schooled in the split lower lips of the East End than the stiff upper lips of Eton with flying debris, forcing Hagler to hurriedly leave the ring without his newly-won belt.

Other Brits who have finished second in hand-to-hand combat with their American counterparts include Don Cockell, who lost to Rocky Marciano; Frank Bruno, who lose to Bonecrusher Smith and Mike Tyson (twice), and even, going back to British heavyweight champion Bruce Woodcock, who came over to America to face Tami Mauriello in 1946 and, in the words of Red Smith, became known as a "horizontal British heavyweight," being cold-cocked by Mauriello in five.

There was some balancing of the ledgers along the way, such as when Freddie Mills captured the light heavyweight title from Gus Lesnevich back in 1948; Turpin the middleweight crown from Robinson in '51; Lloyd Honeyghan the welterweight version from Donald Curry in '86, and adopted son Lewis over almost any American thrown in the ring against him. More recently, Joe Calzaghe defending his super middleweight title against Jeff Lacy and Peter Manfredo, Jr.

But the hard-edged figures show a plussage in the American fighters' favor -- so much so that promoter Jack Solomons always preferred to stage international bouts with Americans coming over to London to challenge any Brit who, in Solomon's own words, "had the slightest chance of winning."

Now the British fight fans believe they have just the right fighter in Ricky Hatton, who possesses more than just "the slightest chance of wnning." They believe he's got a "bloody" good chance of upsetting the proverbial apple cart in beating Mayweather and winning this latest edition of "The Greatest Contest" between Americans and British champions.

For a copy of the official Mayweather-Hatton program, log onto www.SPboxing.com.

Boxing historian Bert Sugar is host of ESPN Classic's "Ringside" and a contributor to ESPN.com.