It’s royalty versus subject, knight versus plebeian when the sound of the bell starts the Battle Royale between British superstar Ricky Hatton and Filipino People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao on May 2, 2009, in Las Vegas, USA.
The British boxing knight touts an impressive ring record of 46 fights, losing only once when he challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the WBC welterweight crown in December 2007.
Despite the knockout loss, the British boxing idol has come back with two impressive victories over Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi to successfully retain the IBF junior welterweight title which he again puts on the line against Pacquiao.
On the other hand, Pacquiao is coming off from an impressive victory over boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya, whom he demolished and forced into submission in eight rounds of ring action that drew accolades from boxing pundits.
His mastery over the “Golden Boy” earned him the unofficial title of “pound for pound” king of boxing, succeeding Mayweather who had announced his retirement.
Pacquiao holds an equally impressive credential, with 48 wins, two draws, and three losses in 53 outings against the world’s toughest boxers in different weight divisions, ranging from flyweight to welterweight.
Against Hatton, the Filipino fighter has agreed to challenge him in his favorite weight division—the light-welterweight (140 lbs.) where the Briton is undefeated and the reigning champion under the IBF.
Unlike de la Hoya who was taller and bulkier than Pacquiao, the latter is fighting Hatton on even terms, with both fighters standing 5’6” and, of course, weighing 140 pounds at fight night. They have likewise recently turned 30, with Ricky older than Manny by an insignificant two months. Both are in the peak of their prime and are acknowledged to have similar aggressive fighting styles.
In terms of vital statistics—age, weight, reach, height, etc., the match up appears even. They are both fast power punchers, capable of stopping each other with a single blow, or a combination of punishing wallops to the head and body. Both fighters can unleash a knock out punch from either fist like a lightning rod.
The fight is likely to turn into a brawl, with both fighters mixing it up in the ring as early as the first round. Anyone who makes the first solid blow to the face is likely to become an early winner, but it is doubtful if Hatton could deliver the big wallop considering the newly developed defensive skills that Pacquiao unveiled during his match against de la Hoya.
If Hatton’s best was the one he showed against Mayweather in their recent bout, then he would be in trouble again. In that encounter, Hatton appeared steady and composed in the early rounds, peppering Mayweather with solid blows that almost sent his American rival to the canvass, until he lost steam in the later rounds, his face getting caught by a wild hook that sent him literally tumbling to the ground, face up, his eyes shut.
Pacman had faced better, tougher foes in Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Juan Manuel Marquez and survived, while Hatton had met lesser boxing mortals in Lazcano and Malignaggi after the loss against Mayweather.
Given Hatton’s strength, power, and speed, the fight is likely to go either way in the first six rounds—depending who gets hit first—but Pacquiao should get the better end of the exchanges after the sixth round, probably with a knock out in the seventh or eighth, en route to his final climb to his personal Mount Everest—Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the lure politics in his home country.
19 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
Mio de la Cruz 5 months ago
Great observation, but I still think Manny is gifted with one-punch power that could bring down his opponent. However, this could not be readily spotted because he usually follows up a wicked blow with several combinations. That's killer's instinct.
But this fight is certainly not going to be as lopsided as some people might think. His power almost brought down Mayweather. If Pacquiao does not take this fight seriously, he could also be in trouble. Hatton needs to win this one to redeem his sorry loss against Mayweather.
Pacquiao and Hatton are fighting not just for glory and country, but for a loftier place in history. As I see it, Pacquiao has better chance of getting the choice spot primarily because of his speed, strength, and savvy.
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Garlic boy 5 months ago
Mio,
If Manny has 1 punch power, tell me the last time he KO'ed somebody with 1 punch? If he did have 1 punch KO power he wouldn't have to follow up his first shot. Even Freddie Roach has stated that Pacquiao does not have 1 punch KO power.
Anybody can KO somebody with 1 punch, if they hit somebody the right way, but against the best fighters that is a tough task. Not too mention at the welterweight limit.
I could give you that Pacquiao had 1 punch KO power at Featherweight, but at Jr. Welterweight it remains to be seen.
Also, to state that Ricky Hatton had as you put it a "sorry loss" to Mayweather, you are sadly mistaken. Mayweather is undefeated and is an ALL TIME GREAT AND CAN BE ARGUED AS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME. Hatton has 1 loss to an All-time great. I can't classify it as a sorry loss, when he came up in weight and almost went the distance with Mayweather.
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marco vasquez 5 months ago
This is plain and simple the win over Oscar is very deceiving. Hatton at this point could do the same thing to Oscar. Now im a bigger fan of Oscar but at this point he is not the fight that made him a legend. Manny won or was given the fight with Marquez. Everbody saw that fight. Marquez won. Theres a reason why they don't fight Marquez in a rematch soon. I PICK HATTON BY KNOCK OUT. BODYSHOTS.
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Garlic boy 5 months ago
Marco,
James just summed it up. 4-0 in the Knockdown count and people still want to say that Marquez won both fights. RIDICULOUS!!! Close fights but Manny won both.
JMM-PACQUIAO II
MANNY'S KNOCKDOWN WAS A 3 POINT SWING!!!
Instead of a possible 10-9 round for JMM, Manny won the round 10-8. That's a 3 point swing and that knockdown made the difference in the fight. It was a 3 point swing.
Out of the remaining 11 rounds, Manny had to win at least 5 out of the remaining 11. He clearly won the round where Marquez was nearly Knockdown for the second time. So out of the remaining 10 rounds Manny had to tie 1 or win 4 out of 10. IMHO He did that.
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james stansberry 5 months ago
marco. marquez lost TWICE. get over it. in two fights he went down 4 times. if you wanna win you don't get dropped 4 times in two fights, period. i dont believe oscar would have lost to ricky. ricky would be very easy to hit. that is why oscar quit. if he would have been able to hit manny back i think he would have kept fighting but he couldn't get close. i'm excited about this fight it will be good. i think ricky has the foot speed and the hand speed to make it interesting but imma go with manny in a decision or late stoppage
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Ismail Ayub 5 months ago
Marco u and I usually have run ins but I seriously have to question your boxing knowledge! Yes Oscar De La Hoya was a shell but he would have struggled with Manny's technical game at any point of his career. Remember Pacquiao jumped effectively 3 weight division and still did a number on him with Marquez's trainer sitting there glumly watching in Oscar's corner! If you ask me Hatton's last fight was a false economy everyone knew he was facing a slick, but easy to hit boxer whom couldn't knock him out even if he had a baseball bat!
Not sure about Garlic's 'arguably Mayweather's the greatest of all time' sure he's probably one of the best 50 fighters ever but if he is at present I'd put him at 50, below the likes of Ray Leonard, Hagler, Duran, Hearns and even Oscar himself, considering the list of fighters he never faced (great fighters beat all comers, they don't just beat 'paper champions'). Example--
* Super Featherweight- No complaints
* Lightweight- did not fight Joel Casamayor
* Junior Welterweight- did not fight Kostya Tszyu nor Ricky Hatton at this weight
* Welterweight- my god where do we start he didn't fight: Margharito, Berto, Cotto, Williams, Mosley (who beat Oscar at his peak far more handily than Mayweather did all those years later), Pacquiao (?)
* Junior Middleweight- did not fight either Winky Wright nor Vernon Forrest
Prediction: Pacquaio TK0 11 win over Hatton
Why?: Hatton walks forward in straight lines too often, looks bad against every southpaw he has ever faced and cuts too easily in order to be successful against a volume, slashing puncher like Pacquiao.
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Garlic boy 5 months ago
Ismail,
I said arguably the greatest of all time. Greatest of all time is a subjective opinion. Expert opinions vary from S.R.R, Ali, Jack Johnson, Marciano to Floyd Mayweather. Floyd is an UNDEFEATED all time great who won belts in 5 different weight classes. So Floyd can DEFINITELY be argued/considered to be GOAT even though I don't think so.
In response to who he didn't fight, look at who he did beat:
JL: Genaro Hernandez
LW: Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo both of whom I think were equal if not better, but definitely a greater risk than Joel Casamayor.
JW: Mayweather didn't move to JW until 2004, Tzyu got beat in 2005. Basically, Floyd had 1 fight at JW and then Kosta signed to fight Hatton.
Hatton, he beat Hatton.
I don't liked Floyd, but he's undefeated in 39 fights and beat everyone put in front of him. Is his resume soft? Compared to other champs, definitely. But I have to give him credit for moving up in weight and still beating every man placed in front of him.
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Stoker Mac 5 months ago
I got Hatton by decision..ESPECIALLY IF THE SAME HATTON SHOWS UP THAT FOUGHT KOSTYA TSZYU!!..IS IT FINALIZED FOR MAY 2ND YET??WOOO HOOO
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MonteKiffin 5 months ago
Hatton is gonna win. Everybody right now is on Manny bandwagon. The win over DeLa Hoya? Oscar is OVER. Hatton wou've knocked him out in the fourth.
Hatton lost to Mayweather because he could't fight inside. They didn't let him, and that was CLEARLY the main reason. He could't defend himself at all. Right now, Hatton is going to win against Pacman by a knock-out. Or Pacman will win by decision. If Hatton wins, he will beat clearly Mayweather, who doesn't fight for the love of it, as Hatton does. Mayweather shown no heart, he is NOT a true champion. I would love seeing either Pacman or Hatton knocking him out. But Pacman has no punching power. So I think he could win to the distance.
Ps: I'm not British nor Filipino.
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JOHN Q. 5 months ago
MomteKIFFIN>>PACMANS GOT NO PUNCHING POWER??? WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN MAN FOR THE PAST 3-4 YEARS,,,ARE SERIOUS OR JUST JOKING??HAVE YOU SEEN HIS LAST FIVE FIGHTS?AND WHO'S THE "THEY" THAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT? JUST A SILLY EXCUSE THAT HATTON LOST TO A BETTER FIGHTER,,,THE SAME THING WILL HAPPEN TO HATTON ON MAY 2,AND IT WILL BE A BRUTAL ONE,,CHECK MANNYS PAST FIGHTS BEFORE YOU FUT YOUR FINGER IN THE KEY BOARD,,(RASTAMAN)
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marco vasquez 5 months ago
I agree with Hatton winning ,but sounds like your trying to put a lot into what you were writing... The win over Oscar is over rated... Manny could not do that to the champs at welter weight. The ones in there prime now. Lets face it if Oscar was in his prime, it would not have been close. Oscar would have knocked him out easy. Over rated win..... Hatton is in his prime and the KING of 140... Hatton in 6rds by body shot ko.
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JOHN Q. 5 months ago
NO OFFENCE TO HATTONS FANS,i respect hatton power and his dedication for his countrymen and his love for boxing,,but some fight fans makes s*upid comments and excuses.if your guy loses accept it and move on,,god bless to both fighters,,can't wait for this fight to happen...
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MonteKiffin 5 months ago
John, I've seen them all. All his last fights. Pacman knocked out just people at the end of carreer. Barrera, Morales......cm'on man. And DON'T SHOUT. It makes me nervous.
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Mio de la Cruz 5 months ago
I love your comments, guys. But I find MonteKiffin's comment most interesting when he said that Pacman "knocked out just people at the end of career." The real score is that Pacman ended their boxing careers. Period. If Pacman beats Hatton, he'll probably say again that Hatton is at the twilight of his career. When will this end?
Hatton is undoubtedly a worthy opponent, but so far he has only encountered two great warriors in Mayweather and Tszyu. If he beats Pacquiao (which I doubt he will), then I think he deserves all the accolades that await him after May 2.
In the meantime, he has to train long and hard, stay away from too much food and booze, to claim his final share of fame, glory, and an eternal flame in the firmament of world boxing.
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deo secret 5 months ago
weeeeeeee lalaban na naman si pacman milyones na naman ito....
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Mark Paraiso 5 months ago
i agree with mio. pacman ended their boxing carrer. accept it guyz as we try to accept that hatton will have a chance with the pacman... ^_^ Hatton is good and undoubtedly one of the best boxer there is... however, not that good enough to beat the PACMAN! and one more thing, i think hatton is better than floyd, but floyd is wiser than hatton. confused? ^_^ to simplify, im not interested to watch any floyds upcoming fight if not with manny or ricky.
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steven bell 5 months ago
im not a boxing fan but my partner is a filipina and i british and me and my 3 pals would like to go to vegas on a boys trip to watch this fight can anybody confirm date and venue of fight for sure and any pro's & cons on buying tickets,travel from uk and vegas in general ? stevie
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Mio de la Cruz 5 months ago
Hold your horses, guys. There appears to be hitch in the upcoming epic battle between the Pacman and the Hitman. The Filipino wants a bigger share of the purse, 65-35, in his favor, although it is also reported that he is willing to a lower 60-40 sharing. Sounds familiar, huh? This also happened between De la Hoya and Mayweather, and De la Hoya and Pacquiao. These sidelights make the upcoming match more interesting. Can Pacquiao command the same price as De la Hoya? The answer rests on Hatton.
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harlem kerr 5 months ago
well i don't think hatton will win, he will surely end his boxing career after their fight on May 2.
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