By Scott Heritage
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Floyd Mayweather and his team are keeping quiet about his next opponent at the moment, although most sources point to Matthew Hatton as number 41 on Mayweather’s thus far blemish free record.
For someone who claims to be the best boxer in the world at the moment though, this seems like a pretty easy fight to be taking. After all the younger Hatton has yet to hold a major title, and is what most would consider to be a credible contender at a European level, but not world champion material.
The thinking behind the fight is probably that with the fight held in Manchester, England (Hometown of the Hatton brothers), they can expect a lot of local interest and a big attendance. Even if this is the case though, surely the pay per views would be pretty low considering most of the fans in England aren’t familiar with Matthew Hatton. Ricky Hatton, yes, but Matthew not so much.
A few people might remember him from the under cards of his more famous sibling’s fights, but I don’t imagine many of them are going to buy into the fact that he can undo years of Hatton boxing tradition by accomplishing something his brother could not. So if the fight isn’t going to make him that much money and isn’t going to do anything to improve or even maintain his standings in the rankings, then why does Floyd want Hatton as an opponent?
The answer could be as simple as the fact that although he is ranked at only 33 in the world at welterweight, he is still more recognizable than a lot of fighters ranked higher up. Most of the top ten are fighters who are currently tied up, Margarito with his ban, Mosley, Ward with their fight, the Pacquiao fight fell through etc. Most of the decent fighters outside this are either over the hill or no one has ever heard of them, so Floyd could be forgiven partially for taking a fight against a much lower ranked opponent.
It being well known that Floyd has the ability to move around in the weight classes a lot though, there isn’t any reason for Floyd not to move up and capture a super welterweight title. Or better yet, just wait and face the winner of Shane Mosley and Andre Berto which is happening at the end of the month.
A lot has been made in the past about Floyd and the fights he picks, but this one if it goes ahead is by far the worst yet. Juan Manuel Marquez was at least a top fighter, even if he was climbing the weight classes to fight a much bigger Floyd and had no realistic chance. Matthew Hatton isn’t on any top ten pound for pound lists though, and he isn’t a multi-weight champion. It will be interesting to see how Floyd justifies himself as the best fighter in the world if this one goes down.
http://www.examiner.com/x-20066-Pittsburgh-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m12d29-Floyd-Mayweather-needs-a-top-ten-opponent-to-stay-relevant
Scott Heritage covers both MMA and Boxing make sure to visit his Website to read his other articles: http://www.examiner.com/x-20066-Pittsburgh-Fight-Sports-Examiner
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Scott Heritage covers both MMA and Boxing read his other articles at Pittsburgh-Fight-Sports-Examiner