By Eric Thomas: For what it’s worth, Floyd Mayweather Sr. will go ahead and train Ricky Hatton for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., it the bout ever comes about in the future. As of now, it matters little because Mayweather Jr. hasn’t fought in over a year due to his retirement from boxing.
However, there has been recently rumblings about Mayweather Jr. coming back for a potential fight against the winner of Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao bout on May 2nd. Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) failed miserably in his attempt to win the WBC welterweight title against Mayweather Jr. in December 2007, getting dominated, out-punched and ultimately knocked out in the 10th round.
Since that time, Hatton has selected a new trainer – Mayweather Jr’s father, Floyd Mayweather Sr. – and has learned many of the same techniques taught to Mayweather Jr.
Hatton hasn’t had nearly as much time to absorb all of the information, but he’s made a tremendous amount of progress in the short time that he’s been trained by the older Mayweather. Hatton has won two consecutive fights since taking on Mayweather Sr. as his new trainer, beating Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi.
Having Mayweather Sr. as Hatton’s trainer against Floyd Jr sets up an odd situation to say the least, with Mayweather Sr. essentially training Hatton to beat his son. For Hatton, it will take a lot of trust because he’ll have to believe that Mayweather Sr. is giving him the straight scoop when training and not setting him up to fail by giving him wrong advice. After all, blood is thicker than water.
However, Mayweather Sr. and Floyd Jr. are said to be not getting along well, and have had problems for awhile in the past. By training Hatton well enough to beat Floyd Jr., Mayweather Sr. could be knocking his son down a peg, showing him that other fighters are capable adopting his teaching as well.
Mayweather Sr. has been pleased with his training of Hatton, calling him one of the best students he’s ever had and a quick learner.
Before Hatton gets a chance at Mayweather Jr., if he ever does, Hatton has to get by both Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. Hatton has slated Marquez as his next opponent and wants to fight only two more times after his Pacquiao fight on May 2nd. Marquez has been one of boxing’s biggest stars for the past six years, winning titles in the featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight divisions during that time.
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