Hatton-Mayweather II: Would People Be Interested In A Rematch?

By Boxing News - 03/21/2008 - Comments

mayweather444544.jpgBy Erik Thomas: The first fight was an ugly one-sided affair, with the undersized Ricky Hatton being foiled at his attempted wrestling & fighting on the inside, eventually leading up to a 10th round stoppage by Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KOs). The only reason I ask is because Mayweather, 30, recently said to Sky Sports News in regards to a rematch with Hatton, “We don’t know what the future holds, anything is possible. Is it possible? Absolutely.” This would seem to suggest that Mayweather is kicking around the idea of fighting Hatton sometime in the future, perhaps not long after Floyd faces Oscar De La Hoya in their September 20th rematch in Las Vegas.

The logical question, of course, would be ‘who wants to see Mayweather fight Hatton again?’ The first fight was not particularly interesting, as Mayweather dominated the entire fight, and it ended badly for Hatton with him being stopped in the 10th. Obviously, there’s still a market for such a fight given Hatton’s immense fan base in England and in the United States. Likewise, Mayweather doesn’t have a lot of options for future big money bouts aside from De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto and Hatton. Aside from them, there’s only smaller fighters like Manny Pacquiao or larger fighters like Kelly Pavlik and Joe Calzaghe.

Clearly, due to their vast size differences, Mayweather could never fight any of these fighters. For this reason, Hatton remains a viable opponent for Mayweather, and one whom I have no doubts that he will fight once again even though the first fight wasn’t particularly interesting to watch. However, Mayweather’s fight with De La Hoya wasn’t all that appealing of a fight either, yet here Mayweather is getting ready to fight him once again, with both fighters about to be paid a huge million dollar payday for what will likely end with another Mayweather victory. There’s no real intrigue, because De La Hoya isn’t the same fighter he used to be and pretty much loses on a regular basis nowadays.

What Hatton could do next time to change the outcome of a fight with Mayweather, I have no real idea. Hatton seemed far too small to do much with Mayweather, and was getting pelted with shots both while on his way in and on the inside where Mayweather literally ate him up with big shots. That latter took me completely by surprise as I’d previously thought that Hatton was the best in the business as fighting on the inside, and that he would be able to control the bout with Mayweather if he could somehow work his way inside. Well, once Hatton did get inside, which he had no problem doing without taking a shot or two, Mayweather was taking him to school, beating with fast combinations to the head and midsection.

When Hatton attempted to fight on the outside, Mayweather was jabbing and pot shotting him with regularity. By the 9th round, Hatton realized he could do that either, and became reckless in his attempts to get inside again. Predictably, this led to Hatton getting knocked out when he charged in at Mayweather in the 10 round and was hurt with a short left hook to the head. So, out of all this, would the fans be interested enough to want to fork over hard-earned money – $49.95 for PPV – to watch something that would likely have a similar ending?

For me, I’d be interested in watching it for the sheer spectacle, to say that I saw Hatton get stretched for the second time. Beyond that, I see no real reason why other fans would want to watch the fight. It would be like watching an execution and knowing the outcome ahead of time. Hatton doesn’t have a chance in a million at beating Mayweather due to his small size and lack of one-punch power.

However, that probably won’t stop this fight from occurring again in the next two years, perhaps even earlier. Mayweather may indeed fight Cotto, but once he gets him and De La Hoya out of the way, there’s really only Hatton standing there for one last big payday for Mayweather. Of course, if Mayweather sticks around long enough, maybe a younger fighter may materialize, some like Andre Berto, but that may take another three-four years and by then I expect Mayweather to be out of boxing, settled in retirement with his huge fortune made from bouts with De La Hoya, Hatton and Cotto.