Is Mayweather Next For the Hatton-Pacquiao Winner?

By Boxing News - 01/24/2009 - Comments

mayweather456238452By Manuel Perez: With the Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton looking as if it’s back on course (at least for now) for May 2nd, the big question is who will the winner choose to fight in the next fight? For Hatton, it’s an easy answer. He wants to gain revenge for his 10th round TKO loss to Mayweather in December 2007, and he’d likely go after him immediately if Ricky ends up defeating Manny on May 2nd. In Pacquiao’s case, the answer’s not that simple.

Though the big money fight would be against Mayweather, Pacquiao is said to be interested in facing Margarito next according Manny’s trainer Freddie Roach. However, the money numbers wouldn’t nearly be as good with a fight against Margarito compared to what Pacquiao could get in a fight with Mayweather.

There’s little doubt that a lot of pressure would be put to bare on Pacquiao to try and get him to fight Mayweather next rather than a tough fight against Margarito. Maybe in the old days, Pacquiao could have been persuaded to do what others wanted him to do, but that’s becoming less and less the case as he’s becoming richer, more successful and more self governing about his fights.

Mayweather, who is currently in a one year retirement, is in a good position right now as he stands decent chance at getting a fight with either Hatton or Pacquiao in 2009. Such a fight, if it ever comes off, would likely give Mayweather a tremendous payday along the same lines as his previous mega fights with Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya.

Clearly, his best chance is a against Hatton, who wants revenge and doesn’t have motivation to take on a dangerous opponent like Margarito. However, Hatton may come up short against Pacquiao, the fighter considered to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in all of the sport, in which case a fight with Mayweather and Pacquiao becomes a little more murky.

Mayweather has been said to be interested in fighting Pacquiao, but then, of course, he wouldn’t take the fight unless he was given a good purse split of the PPV revenue, and would probably want to negotiate on equal terms with Pacquiao. A fight with Mayweather and Pacquiao would be huge, especially if Pacquiao is able to defeat Hatton in a convincing fashion.

Mayweather, who hasn’t helped increase his popularity since retiring a year ago, would then presumably be able to move in for a fight that would possibly rival his previous rights with Hatton and De La Hoya. That is, if the boxing public still sees him as a top fighter. The longer he stays out of the sport, the more it hurts him in terms of appeal with the average fan.

Pacquiao would be the perfect opponent for Mayweather, who has seemed reluctant to fight the taller welterweights like Margarito and Paul Williams, due to Manny’s limited 5’6” height. Mayweather would be coming into the fight with two inch height advantage and probably even with Pacquiao in hand speed.



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