By Mark Vester
Trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. is not exactly happy with the idea of Ricky Hatton taking on the much larger Oscar De La Hoya in 2009. He feels that his fighter doesn't match up well with the size, height and strenght of Oscar.
Mayweather Sr. would rather see his fighter take on De La Hoya's December 6 opponent, WBC lightweight champ Manny Pacquiao. There is only one problem, he doesn't see Pacquiao being able to beat De La Hoya. Floyd was very impressed with his fighter's performance against Paulie Malignaggi at the MGM Grand.
"It's Ricky's call, but do I want to see him fight Oscar? Not really. I would rather see him fight Pacquiao, that's the perfect match for Ricky. But I don't see Pacquiao beating Oscar. Ricky catches on very fast. I saw a whole lot different. He was pot-shotting and doing what he wanted to do with Malignaggi," Mayweather Sr. told BBC Sport. "But I would rather see him fight Pacquiao, that's a more logical fight to me, what with the size and weight and height, it makes more sense."
"He has a lot to learn, but he's willing to learn. There were a lot of things I was trying to tell him to do that he didn't do, but I'm not disappointed. Seven weeks is not a long time, Rome wasn't built in a day. It takes time, especially in boxing. Ricky did very good with some of the stuff I taught him."
Hatton is open to just staying at junior welterweight and facing the other champions like WBO title holder Kendall Holt and WBC champ Timothy Bradley - but he says that as good as these guys are - they are not household names like Pacquiao and De La Hoya.
"There are a lot of good fighters in the light-welterweight division now," said Hatton to BBC Sport. "But as good as Kendall Holt and Timothy Bradley are, they're not the household names that Manny Pacquiao and Oscar de la Hoya are. If I'm going to have a couple of years left, what sort of a champion would I be if I turned my back on fighting Oscar or Manny?
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