Floyd Mayweather Jr Needs a Tune-Up Fight Before Facing Manny Pacquiao Next Year

Should Floyd Mayweather Jr. finally decide to accept the challenge to face Manny Pacquiao next year, he would need a tune-up fight to keep him at par with the pound-for-pound king.

Mayweather fought Shane Mosley last May and by the time Pacquiao is ready for his post Margarito fight, the undefeated American boxer will have been in hibernation for over a year.

Pacquiao is facing Antonio Margarito on November 13 and he may not agree to fight in March as it will give him less than four months to rest and start training again.

A much reasonable date for the proposed Pacquiao-Mayweather fight would be May next year.

Mayweather must have realized the need for a tune-up fight as he was rumored to be entertaining a fight with newly-crowned European Welterweight Champion Matthew Hatton in the United Kingdom.

At the same time, he should make sure that he is capable of winning over his tune-up partner otherwise his marketability suffers and his popularity goes down as well.

Mayweather may have realized the importance of a tune-up fight before finally facing Manny Pacquiao.

Earlier, Mayweather has announced he may stage a tune-up fight in Dubai against an unknown opponent but nothing concrete has been subsequently announced.

Fighthype.com reports:

Exactly when Floyd Mayweather plans on returning to the ring remains a mystery, however, if you’re one of the 703,267 fans that follow him on Twitter, you might have the inside track on where his next fight will take place.

During an obvious lull in his rather hectic schedule, Mayweather decided to answer a select series of questions that fans Tweeted to him throughout the day.

When one particular follower asked, “When u next in London,” Mayweather took the opportunity to respond, “Sooner than you think. I’ll keep you posted.”

About his planned date to travel to England, he answered, “Real soon.”

Now, obviously we have no idea if he’s dropping a hint about his next fight or simply planning his next vacation, but one has to wonder, if he truly plans on fighting Pacquiao, will he risk stepping into the ring with him next, or will he opt to take a tune-up after another long layoff.

If the latter is true, the question is who could he possibly face?

Matthew Hatton (46-40-4) with two draws is the younger brother of Ricky Hatton who lost to Mayweather in 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At least three other challengers have been prominently mentioned as possible tune-up partners of Mayweather, including Martinez and Williams. Andre Berto, who is also undefeated in his professional boxing career is likewise being considered.

It seems Matthew Hatton has the edge over the three other contenders primarily because of the hometown Hatton crowd.

Also Mayweather has the best chance and the advantage of wining over Hatton and preserve his zero loss based on their physical and fight statistics.

A date with Matthew Hatton in England will be a good tune up fight for the undefeated American boxer.