By Chris Williams: I still refuse to believe that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will opt to fight Matthew Hatton of all fighters. I know Mayweather is proud of being a business man, and doesn’t like to take punishment in his fights, but come on. He’s got to fight someone at least a little better than Matthew Hatton for Christ sakes.
If Mayweather wants to comb the lower divisions for suitable smaller opponents to fight, then so be it. I could handle that, because Mayweather would probably face at least a champion or two, even if they were two or three divisions below him in weight.
I can’t understand how Mayweather want to face Hatton, a fighter that is probably not even close to being the best welterweight in the UK, much less the entire world. Mayweather would be looking at getting a fight in Britain so that he could increase his appeal there, but why Matthew Hatton? That seems almost a crime, because it just won’t be a fair fight.
If Mayweather wants to increase his fan base in Britain, he should go after Amir Khan or a rematch with Ricky Hatton. I think either of those two would jump at the chance of fighting Mayweather. Look, this would be Ricky’s chance to get his revenge that he’s been crowing about for the past two years. He could even get a referee that would allow him to work on the inside with any luck.
It’s a fight that would do well world wide, even in Hatton’s dilapidated state. Khan might even be better, because he’s currently holding down the WBA light welterweight title, still young and in good physical condition. Mayweather could take a stab at trainer Freddie Roach by beating his young pupil Khan and making him look bad in the process.
Beating Matthew Hatton doesn’t prove anything other then the fact that Mayweather can beat a 2nd tier fighter. We’re all familiar with the Rocky movies, but Matthew Hatton doesn’t have the kind of power that is needed for a story book ending in a fight with Mayweather. This would be like going to war with an unarmed adversary. Maybe Matthew Hatton would have a mathematical chance in theory. But it would be so slim that it wouldn’t even be interesting.
I wonder if this is a test by Mayweather to see how much the public will be able to accept from him. If the boxing public goes for a fight between Mayweather and Matthew Hatton and purchases it at an alarming rate like they did with the undersized Juan Manuel Marquez, then Mayweather might as well forget about fighting Manny Pacquiao in the future for $80 million. After all, why would Mayweather need to take the risk of getting punched a lot and heaven forbid, maybe losing the fight.
If Mayweather can make a bundle fighting the likes of Matthew Hatton and other similar 2nd tier fighters, Mayweather might as well continue with that trend. But I sure won’t be purchasing it on pay-per-view, you better believe that. All that would do is empower Mayweather and let him continue to look for smaller – or lesser talented – opponents in the future.
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