Quote Originally Posted by Bomp View Post
Quote Originally Posted by RozzySean View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Hughesd View Post
at 140. Was there ever any negioations at the time between the two at 140. Who would have won ?
I think there were. I'm not positive, but I think Mayweather was going to fight KT if KT got past Hatton. Hatton messed it up for him so he had to beat Hatton silly and bounce him off a ring post.

Mayweather never took risky fights unless he was going to get seriously paid. Going for KT's IBF belt was higher risk, lower reward, compared to cherrypicking the WBC belt. So Mayweather was busy fighting title eliminators with "quality" opponents like Chop-Chop and Brussels in search his chance at Gatti's WBC belt and the large paycheck that goes along with a Gatti fight.

I don't think it was matter of Mayweather ducking Tzysu. A KT fight would be been there for him if KT had won against Hatton. It was all about $$$ and grabbing a LWW belt in the process. Floyd targeted Gatti from the time Gatti won his belt off Branco. Gatti's star was at it's highest at that moment. He was coming of the Ward trilogy and was one of the most popular fighters in all of boxing. Kostya was less known in the U.S., pretty much unknown to casual fans (unlike Gatti who is a household name) and Kostya had utterly destroyed his last two opponents. It made far better business sense to go after the WBC belt. I've always thought it was a bit of a biatch move, but it made financial sense. He doesn't call himself "Money" Mayweather for nothin'.
KT was the guy Floyd wanted at 140, you'll find interviews of him talking about it with Floyd mentioning it would be p4p1 against2. But Hatton was the mandatory and the rest is history.
I have no doubt Mayweather wanted KT at some point. I should have written "go after the WBC belt FIRST." He just wanted to cash in on Gatti, grab a belt, and make the KT fight a big unification. That's why he wasted his time on those stupid eliminators. I'm sure he expected Kostya to get past Hatton, and then the unification fight would have been huge. The timing was perfect. Hatton beat Kostya the same month Floyd beat Gatti. If Kostya wins, you get a KT vs Floyd in late 2005 or early 2006. But along came Hatton, and as you said, the rest is history.