Matthew Hatton says Mayweather has been in touch
by Scott Christ on Jan 10, 2010 9:28 AM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
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Mid-level (being kind) welterweight Matthew Hatton, the brother of the more famous Ricky Hatton, told The Daily Star that the camp for Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been in touch about the fight that everyone besides the Hattons is praying won't happen.
"Mayweather’s camp have been in touch about three times now.With the Pacquiao fight being called off now, it’s good news for me. My trainer was told by them I’m top of their list of opponents."
He added: "To pit myself against one of the best fighters of all time, in my opinion, would be an amazing opportunity. It would be a great experience. I’m a very durable fighter and have never been put down, so I think I would make it a competitive fight."
"He’s a level above me in terms of class but, in sport, upsets happen. And it only takes one punch in boxing."
There are some false statements made here by Matthew Hatton:
- It would not be a competitive fight. Period. Matthew just struggled badly with Lovemore N'dou, a fringe titlist nowhere near Mayweather's level who hadn't sparred for weeks after getting injured in camp. That was supposed to be Matthew's breakout fight if any fight was going to be, and he essentially got a golden opportunity with that. He didn't blow it; he just isn't good enough.
- "He's a level above me in terms of class" is terribly inaccurate. Mayweather is at least 10 levels above Matthew Hatton in terms of class. Mayweather was three or four levels above Ricky Hatton in terms of class, and Hatton was the undisputed, undefeated world junior welterweight champion at the time. Matthew has never so much as won a recognized alphabet title.
The very idea of this matchup is ludicrous. "Hey, it only takes one punch," he says, as if he has much shot at even landing that miracle punch. His brother, the far superior fighter, landed 63 punches by CompuBox's count in their December 2007 clash, and he lasted 10 rounds. Ricky is faster, stronger, and better than Matthew, and it's not a particularly close race.
Look, I'm not trying to bust on Matthew Hatton, really. He seems like a truly nice, hard-working guy who is probably maximizing his skill at this point. From a natural talent standpoint, he's just not a world class fighter, and Mayweather is world class and then some. Mayweather is going to the Hall of Fame.
To even have anyone give this a first thought is positively ludicrous. Mayweather has been criticized for picking off easy opponents before, but Matthew Hatton would be the worst fighter he's fought since he stopped beating on journeymen about 12 years ago. Mayweather against Matthew Hatton would be inexcusable. He could get better fights out of countless guys. I'd pick Juan Manuel Marquez to beat Matthew at welterweight. I'd pick the drained Oscar de la Hoya to beat Matthew at welterweight.
This fight has absolutely no business happening and there is no way any Mayweather fan, apologist, team member, representative or family member could spin this into being anything more than the easiest possible fight they could get someone to sanction. How on earth would you begin to rationalize Mayweather against Matthew Hatton as anything even remotely competitive on paper?
If this is where Floyd goes, how could you respect that?
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I’m a mayweather fan but if he makes this fight he is making a mockery of himself. I could not support him in any way. You just can’t claim to be the greatest boxer of all time and make fights like this when there are other worthy opponents out there. I agreed with him on the blood test issue, but he looks like a clown now. If he won’t fight a legitamite fighter now, I don’t want to see any of his fights later. Including a manny fight later in the year.
Honestly,
if he has been in touch with his camp three times in the last week, he’s already made a mockery of himself. There is simply no excuse for even considering this fight.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
Floyd should ask for a random blood test on Hatton too
Hatton might juice up and may actually KO Floyd.
"There is no nobility to be superior to anybody else;
The only true nobility is to be superior to the person you were yesterday."
by Whitney Young
There should be a clause in the contract that REQUIRES Hatton to juice up!
Then this fight would at least have a little appeal. Otherwise, this fight is downright offensive.
by thp0344 on Jan 10, 2010 12:00 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I think this is a fair fight. I even vouch for Matthew to win this one. C’mon Floyd, make this fight happen and you’ll get a beating from Matthew Hutton.
Actually, this is the kind of fight that equates Mayweathers skills. My take on this fight? Floyd will be KOed in 8th round.
by Intellectual Truth on Jan 10, 2010 10:42 AM EST reply actions
Sarcasm ftw
I hope…
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 10, 2010 4:01 PM EST up reply actions
My "Money" is on Hatton too.
;)
In Bayless I trust.
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EXCITING!!!
If this matchup comes to fruition it has the potential to become one of the two more compelling fights to be made at the present time, the other of course being Klitschko vs Calderon. Can’t imagine this being made, the public backlash would be a tremendous blow to the promotion, however smacking Matthew around for 2-3 rds. would be a massive boost to Moneys EGO. If this happens Puhleeeeze,..don’t anybody buy it. Peace!!
Mayweather works his hardest to prove his haters right!
In Bayless I trust.
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by staylost on Jan 10, 2010 12:44 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
This would be a total farce
Floyd needs to either wait for the winner of Mosley/Berto or offer Bradley a fight. Anything less – and this is A LOT less is wasting everyone’s time.
Check This Out
Matthew Hatton’s resume; 37 wins, 4 losses, 2 draws, with 14 by way of Knockout for a staggering 32.56 KO percentage. Go Floyd Go!! Peace!!
Surely there could be someone else Floyd could fight in the UK right?
If this actually happened, it would have to be an HBO fight. I don’t know 4 people who would buy it on PPV.
That is why this fight won't happen
HBO won’t put it on PPV. That is really saying something since they might be willing to put Floyd shadow boxing on PPV, but they won’t put a UK Matthew Hatton fight on PPV. I’m not even sure they go over there to televise it to be frank.
Mayweather will take a reasonable fight here. He’s going to view himself as in competition with Pacquiao, and he knows a fight with Matthew Hatton won’t sell half as well as Pacquiao v Clottey.
I’m sure Matthew Hatton is on the top of the list of plan D backup fighters. Not too bad for a fourth-string fight…. Anything more than this is laughable.
by Waldo Rastel on Jan 10, 2010 3:45 PM EST up reply actions
What would the odds be?
I’m thinking Floyd as a -1500 favorite would still be worth betting on, but a nice high-intrest bank account would yeild a higher return.
Keep firing Assholes!
"If all else fails immortality can always be assured by spectacular error." - John Galbraith
Might be no line
Odds would be too long to make it worth anyone’s time. This is the kind of thing the casinos lose big bucks on. It’s a bigger mismatch than Tyson-Douglas, which was 33-1 odds.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I remember the story about Frank Warren being asked to get a bet on Tyson vs Holyfield
Prince Naseem asked him just before one of his own fights, or something…. “Can you get me a million on Tyson?” Warren said he’d try, Nas went out and did his thing, and only later in the night did he ask how Tyson got on….
Apparently he was nearly in tears, until Warren told him that he’d been unable to get the bet on, since the fight was seen as such a foregone conclusion no bookie was willing to take a million on it.
Still must have been fun watching Nas squirm!!
Some people are acting like Pacquiao should be expected to have just gone, "Yeah sure, let’s do something I’ve never done before because your dad made some dumbass baseless comment."
(SC, 28/12/09; http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/12/27/1221143/mayweather-pacquiao-update-bob#comments)
Like I’ve said before – if he insists on going to England then he should fight someone like Kell Brook. Check out his fights on youtube – he is at least “one class” above Matthew Hatton for sure ha ha ha
Funniest video for Pacquiao-Mayweather ever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKDealPZygY
That could actually be a surprisingly competitive bout.
Some people are acting like Pacquiao should be expected to have just gone, "Yeah sure, let’s do something I’ve never done before because your dad made some dumbass baseless comment."
(SC, 28/12/09; http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/12/27/1221143/mayweather-pacquiao-update-bob#comments)
It’s a much better fight than what’s being talked about, but then I think a rematch with Ricky is a much better fight than one with Matthew. I would rather see Mayweather-Michael Jennings than Mayweather-Matthew Hatton.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Jan 10, 2010 6:31 PM EST up reply actions
If Mayweather rang me up and wanted to fight me id jump at the chance, it wouldnt last long but at least I could say I got a beating from a hall of fame boxer.
You cant knock Hatton for taking it and at least trying to sell it. But you can knock the ….. out of Mayweather for even thinking about it.
"Good, so it can’t go any deeper." - Arturo Gatti after being told he was cut to the bone
I don’t blame Matthew Hatton for wanting it at all, or for taking it. It’s not Matthew Hatton’s responsibility to not take a fight like this, it’s Mayweather’s.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Jan 10, 2010 7:43 PM EST up reply actions
Exactly.
I totally agree with sigidy. I’ll do whatever drug testing Mayweather asks of me. I can make 147 lbs. I’ll even take a 65-35 split, and I’m clearly no threat to his undefeated record. Contact me, Floyd! We can make this work!
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
NOT HAPPENING
Dan Raf has a story on ESPN.com right now about this rumor. Schaefer says its BS but that Mayweather is fighting on March 13th. Kinda puts the kibosh on the Mosley rumor, which is sad, but gives legs to the rumors of Cintron, Paulie, Campbell, and to a lesser extent Bradley (Showtime issues there).
Floyd would draw against a debuting pro with no amateur background to speak of or a 0-100 journeyman punching bag – and I wouldn’t fault either of them for taking the fight – it would in all likelihood be huge, huge, astronomically huge payday for either of them, no matter what kind of split Floyd gave them. Take the money, take the beating and go home a rich man.
On the other hand, if Floyd-Matthew Hatton happens, there is no way any credible source should keep Floyd anywhere near the top of any p4p ranking list. He’d probably make quite a bunch of money, but fights like this would make it more and more difficult to sell him as an all-time great.
by Monday Morning Martial Artist on Jan 11, 2010 5:47 AM EST reply actions
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