By Mark Vester
Speaking with The National, former two division champion Ricky Hatton wonders if he should have made the same random drug testing demands as Floyd Mayweather Jr., prior to last May's two round KO loss to Manny Pacquiao.
Hatton admits to focusing on Pacquiao's size prior to their fight. He saw him as the smaller fighter moving up, and like Mayweather, Hatton finds it very strange how Pacquiao was able to move up by so many divisions to batter much bigger men like Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto.
“I could have had those rules, but I wasn’t bothered,” said Hatton. “Maybe in hindsight, I should have done. I must admit, I fancied my chances against Manny. A few years ago he was getting knocked down by little men like [Juan Manuel] Marquez, then all of a sudden he is knocking out Oscar de la Hoya, myself and Cotto, who are powerhouses in comparison."
“It is a little bit strange. He could be on what Floyd is accusing him of [performance-enhancing substances], or it could be that he is just a great fighter who has improved. We will never know.”
Hatton wants the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather to happen. Some experts have said the fight will never happen because of the two fighters having strong positions on the issue of random drug testing. Hatton thinks the fight will happen.
“Floyd is of the opinion he may possibly be taking something illegal, and that is why he is asking for certain tests to be done,” Hatton said. “It is a grey area for people, and they are puzzled as to what is going on. They just want to see the fight.
“Manny will say Floyd is running scared of him, asking him to do certain tests, Floyd will say he is guilty. But I think it will happen eventually."
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