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Hints of Hatton-Mayweather.
It's no surprise that the week after Floyd Mayweather took a verbal pasting from ESPN's Brian Kenny that the network decided to have Ricky Hatton as their in-studio guest last night. Kenny made a point of highlighting Hatton as the legitimate champion at light welterweight, to the dismay of Mayweather who figured that beating up a shot Arturo Gatti was enough to make his point in the division before moving to welterweight. I did not actually see Hatton's performance on the show, but know what to predict from the man; he had not changed since the enormous success he's had, and I doubt that anything he will experience stateside will inflate his ego enough to make him forget himself.
Hatton is a very down to earth type of man and conducts himself in the media as such. The fact that Hatton takes care of business in the ring is enough of a ticket seller; he has not had to resort to trash-talking his opponents and therefore, I doubt that what comes from his mouth in the press is far from the truth. I would not be surprised to hear Hatton admit that he turned down a fight with Floyd Mayweather, perhaps even on more than one occasions.
Mayweather is a great fighter and perhaps the best pure boxer in the world, and Hatton respects him appropriately for that. Mayweather does like to call fighters out at short notice, possibly knowing the good possibility that they will refuse him. At lightweight, Mayweather called out Juan Lazcano at perhaps two weeks' notice for a world title fight. No fighter, and certainly not Lazcano, with any respect for their career will put themselves at that kind of disadvantage if they don't have to.
There is no chance that Hatton is going to fight Mayweather soon into his campaign in America, and really, there's no reason that he should. Mayweather has already admitted that he would not fight in England, therefore, Hatton has no choice but to bring himself to America, but in doing so, he must make the kinds of calculations that will allow himself to fight effectively in America since he has fought most of his career at home in England.
There was a nice article at MaxBoxing.com a few days ago detailing how Dan Birmingham intends to acclimate Jeff Lacy to the demands of fighting Joe Calzaghe in Manchester at two in the morning. Hatton would have to similar adjustments throughout his transition to training and fighting in America. It is unrealistic to expect him to have to do that for the first time and have to deal with Mayweather at the same time.
Hatton-Mayweather is a fight that I do think will happen, though. I think that the zenith of Mayweather's career will likely be a fight with Oscar de la Hoya, but there are difficulties preventing that fight from happening. The main one is that De La Hoya is trained by Floyd Mayweather, Sr.. I say, if it is a problem, and understandably it would be, have Mayweather, Sr. step away from it. Of course, it prevents a payday for the old man, but then, if he's against the fight, why would he want to make money from it? De La Hoya is as complete a fighter as he can become at this point in time, and there's certainly nothing Mayweather, Sr. can bring to the table now that will enhance his chances of victory over Mayweather, Jr..
Negotiations would likely be very difficult between the two camps, and with Mayweather unwilling to step up in weight any further than 154-pounds, he would still be available to fight Hatton in the interim. De La Hoya has spoken of his own retirement for several years, so you can take his taunts to retire by the end of this year with a pinch of salt; if there is a challenge with sufficient money attached to it, De La Hoya is young enough and has the ego to take it on. Mayweather, no matter how much weight he puts on to make 154, is by far one of the most disciplined fighters in the game and would make 147 or 140-pounds if required without a problem.
Mayweather needs to wake up and understand that he has been a dominant attraction in the last several years, but he has not dominated the weight classes he has been in, especially not the light welterweight class. Mere speculation that he would have beaten Hatton, Cotto and all the rest is useless; ask Roy Jones whose legacy is still shrouded in doubt, whether he shoul dhave fought the likes of Nigel Benn, Gerald McClellan, Steve Collins and so on. Back in his super featherweight and lightweight days, Mayweather a point of taking on the best available fighters at those ways, but has swayed from that in recent years. Hopefully, he will relaize the importance of silencing his critics by fighting Hatton.
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Hints of Hatton-Mayweather.
It's no surprise that the week after Floyd Mayweather took a verbal pasting from ESPN's Brian Kenny that the network decided to have Ricky Hatton as their in-studio guest last night. Kenny made a point of highlighting Hatton as the legitimate champion at light welterweight, to the dismay of Mayweather who figured that beating up a shot Arturo Gatti was enough to make his point in the division before moving to welterweight. I did not actually see Hatton's performance on the show, but know what to predict from the man; he had not changed since the enormous success he's had, and I doubt that anything he will experience stateside will inflate his ego enough to make him forget himself.
Hatton is a very down to earth type of man and conducts himself in the media as such. The fact that Hatton takes care of business in the ring is enough of a ticket seller; he has not had to resort to trash-talking his opponents and therefore, I doubt that what comes from his mouth in the press is far from the truth. I would not be surprised to hear Hatton admit that he turned down a fight with Floyd Mayweather, perhaps even on more than one occasions.
Mayweather is a great fighter and perhaps the best pure boxer in the world, and Hatton respects him appropriately for that. Mayweather does like to call fighters out at short notice, possibly knowing the good possibility that they will refuse him. At lightweight, Mayweather called out Juan Lazcano at perhaps two weeks' notice for a world title fight. No fighter, and certainly not Lazcano, with any respect for their career will put themselves at that kind of disadvantage if they don't have to.
There is no chance that Hatton is going to fight Mayweather soon into his campaign in America, and really, there's no reason that he should. Mayweather has already admitted that he would not fight in England, therefore, Hatton has no choice but to bring himself to America, but in doing so, he must make the kinds of calculations that will allow himself to fight effectively in America since he has fought most of his career at home in England.
There was a nice article at MaxBoxing.com a few days ago detailing how Dan Birmingham intends to acclimate Jeff Lacy to the demands of fighting Joe Calzaghe in Manchester at two in the morning. Hatton would have to similar adjustments throughout his transition to training and fighting in America. It is unrealistic to expect him to have to do that for the first time and have to deal with Mayweather at the same time.
Hatton-Mayweather is a fight that I do think will happen, though. I think that the zenith of Mayweather's career will likely be a fight with Oscar de la Hoya, but there are difficulties preventing that fight from happening. The main one is that De La Hoya is trained by Floyd Mayweather, Sr.. I say, if it is a problem, and understandably it would be, have Mayweather, Sr. step away from it. Of course, it prevents a payday for the old man, but then, if he's against the fight, why would he want to make money from it? De La Hoya is as complete a fighter as he can become at this point in time, and there's certainly nothing Mayweather, Sr. can bring to the table now that will enhance his chances of victory over Mayweather, Jr..
Negotiations would likely be very difficult between the two camps, and with Mayweather unwilling to step up in weight any further than 154-pounds, he would still be available to fight Hatton in the interim. De La Hoya has spoken of his own retirement for several years, so you can take his taunts to retire by the end of this year with a pinch of salt; if there is a challenge with sufficient money attached to it, De La Hoya is young enough and has the ego to take it on. Mayweather, no matter how much weight he puts on to make 154, is by far one of the most disciplined fighters in the game and would make 147 or 140-pounds if required without a problem.
Mayweather needs to wake up and understand that he has been a dominant attraction in the last several years, but he has not dominated the weight classes he has been in, especially not the light welterweight class. Mere speculation that he would have beaten Hatton, Cotto and all the rest is useless; ask Roy Jones whose legacy is still shrouded in doubt, whether he shoul dhave fought the likes of Nigel Benn, Gerald McClellan, Steve Collins and so on. Back in his super featherweight and lightweight days, Mayweather a point of taking on the best available fighters at those ways, but has swayed from that in recent years. Hopefully, he will relaize the importance of silencing his critics by fighting Hatton.
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Gran Campeon
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