By Eric Thomas: According to the LA Times, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and his father Floyd Sr. have become closer since the Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao bout on May 2nd, enough so that Mayweather Sr. is with him on a daily basis talking and spending time together. Mayweather Jr. is currently training for his upcoming July 18th bout against Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mayweather Sr., had problems in the training of Hatton for his fight with Pacquiao, and the issues involving Hatton being trained separately by an assistant trainer when Mayweather Sr. wasn’t around, seemed to bother Floyd Sr. a great deal. Information leaked out before the Hatton-Pacquiao fight that the training camp hadn’t been a good camp.
However, the extent of it wasn’t fully realized until after the fight when Mayweather Sr. commented on the issues more in detail. In between the 1st and 2nd rounds, Hatton spent a good portion of time looking back at his assistant trainer, listening to him give instructions rather than putting his focus on Mayweather Sr. the entire time.
The article points out that Mayweather Jr. feels that his father needs backing right now, probably refereeing to the problems that Mayweather Sr. had experienced while training Hatton, as well the lung disease problem that Mayweather Sr. is suffering from. Mayweather Jr. worries about him, and wants him to eat more, as Mayweather Sr. has reportedly lost a great deal of weight since getting the disease.
Mayweather Jr. was quick to defend Floyd Sr. for the results of the Hatton-Pacquiao fight, saying “In know what my father teaches. That’s not how my father trains a fighter…Hatton rushes in, he didn’t follow the game plan.”
Indeed, Hatton seemed to be either on auto pilot on the night he fought Pacquiao or else he was possibly following advice from someone else that he had listened to. Mayweather Sr. generally doesn’t teach his fighters to attack in such a crude manner as how Hatton attacked Pacquiao.
Mayweather Sr., teaches his fighters to focus on their defense, to avoid getting hit, to use their jab and try to get out of the way of shots. This is the exact opposite of how Hatton chose to fight against Pacquiao for some reason.
Mayweather Sr. and Hatton have reportedly not spoken since the loss and it’s probably safe to say that Mayweather Sr. won’t be back as Hatton’s trainer if the British fighter decides not to retire. Mayweather Sr. recommended that Hatton retire after the fight.
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