Quote Originally Posted by raleights
I understand Floyd fighting Oscar over the other 2, I know I would, thats not the question.

The question is why didn't Floyd fight these people along the way to Oscar....
that's only a fair question as to hatton. floyd's only been at welter for 2 fights. you can't call him scared for not taking margarito as his opening tune-up to the division, and when he initially set the fight up with judah, judah was the top dog in the division. i think if judah had lost to baldomir before floyd moved up, we may very well have seen floyd beating margarito a couple months ago instead.

even as to hatton, though--yeah, they were in the same division, but hatton's people have repeatedly said they're not ready for floyd, and that they want 2 or 3 fights first. i know this board is very brit-heavy, but the fact is that hatton's not a big name in the states, and the states is where the real money is. i understand that hatton is huge over there, and can sell out big arenas, but gate sales are a fraction of the ordinary take from a fight--PPV is where the real money's at. And with U.S. population dwarfing UK population, it stands to reason that there's a bigger potential PPV market in the U.S.--and thus more money to be made. But you have to have the name to make the sales first. Ricky and his people understand this, and that's why THEY are putting off a floyd fight until they get bigger states-side exposure through, e.g., a Gatti match. this doesn't translate into floyd being, or ever having been, scared of hatton.