FLOYD MAYWEATHER jnr has issued a warning to Ricky Hatton: “Think long and hard before you step back into the ring.”
Mayweather was in New York yesterday at the launch of his clash with Shane Mosley on May 1, having come out of retirement last year.
Mayweather became the first fighter to beat Hatton in December 2007, when their Las Vegas showdown broke all pay-per-view records in Britain, and he is convinced Hatton should think very seriously about returning to the sport following his second-round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao last year.
Mayweather, 33, who will be defending his perfect 40-fight record against Mosley, 38, at the MGM Grand in Vegas, said: “Ricky is a great fighter and a great warrior. He has done so much for boxing and he took his defeat by me like a man.
“He is talking about coming back and, of course, he has every right to do that. What I would say, though, is that it gets harder when you get into your 30s to get into shape.
“This is a young man’s game. He will have to train a lot harder to get back into the shape he was and he has got to ask himself a lot of questions.
“He has to think long and hard before he steps back to boxing. Every fighter has a right to earn a living and he is entitled to do whatever he wants.
“I can’t tell him what to do. What I would say, though, is that boxing is tough and rough and you have to be in it 100 per cent, otherwise you have to get out.
“All fighters need a break to get their batteries going again and he is no different. Maybe the rest will do him the world of good .
“What I do know, is this is a hard enough sport when you are young. It is so much harder to get in shape and stay in shape when you are older.”
Hatton, 31, has now returned from holiday in Australia and is looking at making his ring return in June, more than a year after he was left on the canvas by Pacquiao.
Even though he admits he considered quitting, the lure of the fight game proved too enticing for Hatton.
Mayweather-Mosley looks set to be yet another blockbuster and, even though the boxing world desperately wanted to see Mayweather fight Pacquiao, Mosley has real pedigree, having twice beaten Oscar De La Hoya, one of the modern-day greats.
Mayweather is still widely regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, despite the fact he has boxed just once – a routine 12-round points win over Juan Manuel Marquez last September – since beating Hatton in 2007.
Mayweather failed to reach an agreement to fight Pacquiao over the issue of drug testing. Mayweather wanted Olympic-style tests, which are incredibly accurate for any performance-enhancing substances, whereas Pacquiao said the usual boxing blood tests would suffice.
Both Mayweather and Mosley will undergo Olympic testing in the run-up to their clash and Mayweather said: “When it comes to performance-enhancing drugs, I stepped up to the plate.
“I want to show the world that my sport is clean. If others don’t wish to do that, fine. Shane Mosley is prepared to do that and that is why I am facing him .
“Mosley has the WBA welterweight belt – but everyone knows belts just collect dust.
“I don’t need a belt to tell everyone that I am the best there is – bar none.”
Source: express.co.uk
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