In light of the fight that everyone wanting to see being delayed, both participants are looking for tune up fights between now and then. One half of the battle of the pound for pound greats Floyd Mayweather Jr. is reportedly training even now to fight Matthew Hatton, brother of Ricky, who of course Floyd has already beaten.
Going into the fight against Floyd, Ricky was 43-0, having toppled the previously unstoppable Kostya Tszyu, and was soundly beaten. Ever heard of David Kirk, David Keir, Alan Elsworth or Craig Watson? Floyd Mayweather probably hasn’t either, but these four have beaten Matthew Hatton in the past, and none of them are even above the British domestic level.
Perhaps the reason for this strange bout could be that Floyd thinks he will be able to sell the fight big in the UK the same as the original Mayweather vs. Hatton (Hatton reportedly sold around 1 million pay per views internationally and remains the biggest draw in British boxing today).
But as someone who has watched Ricky Hatton’s career first hand from before his British title days, let me tell you Floyd, the British fans don’t know who Matthew Hatton is. Sure a few of the boxing savvy fans here and there have heard him mentioned and perhaps even seen a fight or two on Ricky’s under cards, but he isn’t a big seller by any means. Living in Ricky’s shadow for most of his career and having a much less exciting fight style and persona, Matthew Hatton is sure to bomb at the box office.
The best Floyd can hope for is that a few people might mistake the Hatton vs. Mayweather posters for Ricky and buy it to watch him, but other than that this fight seems pointless for Mayweather. Against the more successful Hatton, Mayweather struggled for the first few rounds, and got caught a few times by the smaller man. Eventually he figured out the timing of Hatton, and frustrated him into making numerous mistakes to eventually get the knockout.
