King J's Just the Facts: Manny Pacquiao Vs. Ricky Hatton

"Just the facts, ma'am"—Joe Friday from Dragnet

All right folks, let's keep it REAL and kick the REAL TALK about the biggest fight of the year that everyone is talking about, going down May 2, 2009: Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton.

A lot has been said from the mouths of many boxing experts to the actual fighters' training camps involved in this May 2 showdown, but one must distinguish what is real and what is just hype or publicity. Probably the best way to separate these two is to decipher what is an opinion and what is an actual fact.

Fact or Opinion: Ricky Hatton is the bigger man

The first very common factor being argued in favor for a Ricky Hatton victory is that Hatton is the bigger man. So to determine whether this is indeed a fact or an opinion, let's take a look at the tale of the tape, shall we folks?

Ricky Hatton stands at 5'7" where Pacquiao stands at 5'6". So if the exact question is who is taller, then the fact is Ricky Hatton is taller than Pacquiao by one inch.

Result: Fact—Hatton is one inch taller

Now even though Hatton is the taller fighter, it is a fact according to the tale of the tape that Pacquiao has the bigger chest, wrists, forearms, ankles, and calves. The calf is essential since many boxing experts claim Pacquiao's power comes from his large muscular calves.

Fact or Opinion: Ricky Hatton has the advantage of fighting at 140 lbs.

So Hatton is the taller man, which is a fact according to the tale of the tape records. But does being the taller man necessarily mean you will win the fight? Of course it does not guarantee a victory.

It is common knowledge that Ricky Hatton is naturally the bigger man for he has been known to walk around at an excess weight of around 180 lbs. between fights, and he has spent his whole career at 140 lbs. (minus the Luis Collazo and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fights at 147 lbs.), whereas this will be Pacquiao's very first time fighting at 140 lbs.

Yes, Pacquiao fought the Golden Boy at 147 lbs. last December and gave him the most embarrassing beatdown of his career, but one must honestly admit that this was no prime or highly competitive Golden Boy that showed up in that ring in December. 

This would imply that Hatton has the advantage of fighting at 140 lbs. since Pacquiao has never fought a true solid 140-lb. champion yet.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that Hatton has the advantage at 140 lbs.

Ricky Has the Reach Advantage Since He Is Taller

The tale of the tape lists Hatton's reach at 65.

The tale of the tape lists Pacquiao's reach at 67.

Result: False—it's a fact that Pacquiao has the reach advantage by two inches

Hatton Has More Power Than Pacquiao

Well, if you just go by strictly the numbers, Hatton has a slightly higher KO percentage of 69.57 percent than Pacquiao's KO percentage of 67.92 percent. Both fighters are known to punch hard with power and have a significant number of KO's on their records.

Manny is again coming up in weight, so the safer assumption would be that Hatton has the slight advantage in power over Pacquiao "on paper."

Result: Fact—Hatton has a slightly higher KO percentage than Pacquiao

Hatton Is Stronger Than Pacquiao

A lot of people are claiming that Hatton is the stronger of the two. Unfortunately there is no official way of determining this in terms of actual statistical facts.

Hatton has been known to bully, rough house and even wrestle his opponents, which would imply that he is stronger than them in that sense, but again folks, this is boxing, not wrestling. This fight is taking place in Las Vegas, not in the UK.

But again, since this fight is at 140 lbs., the strength advantage is leaning more so toward Hatton.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that Hatton would be stronger

Pacquiao Has the Speed Advantage

Many boxing experts agree, and even Hatton's camp, that Pacquiao has the advantage in speed. It is safe to say speed is probably Pacquiao's most prized asset in this matchup.

Although it is almost unanimous that Pacquiao has the speed advantage, unless we hook both fighters up to a scientifically proved test machine, we cannot say it is a fact that Pacquiao does indeed have the speed advantage over Hatton.

So it is only a safe assumption that Pacquiao does have the speed over Hatton.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that Pacquiao has the speed advantage

Hatton Is the More Aggressive Fighter

Hatton is known to fight his whole career as a pressure fighter who just bullies his way to a victory, often times constantly just coming forward hitting, grabbing, and hitting. Hatton and new trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. claim that Hatton no longer fights this way anymore for he is now a more defensive-minded disciplined fighter.

We have only seen one version of this so-called new Hatton style against Paul Malignaggi, so it is hard to determine which Hatton will actually show up on May 2. We do know, however, that Pacquiao will stand toe to toe and trade and is not known to go backwards or run for the most part.

Pacquiao and Hatton can both be as aggressive as needed to win this fight, so it would be safe to say that the aggressiveness advantage would be a draw.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that both fighters are equally aggressive

Pacquiao Has the Stamina Advantage

As of right now, it can be safe to say that Pacquiao would have the stamina advantage over Hatton based upon the visible criticisms of Hatton fading in the later rounds of his most recent fights.

Hatton has even claimed that one of the reasons why he had to fire Billy Graham for Mayweather was because he knew he could no longer fight at the intensity level which he did for all of his career.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that Pacquiao has the stamina advantage

Which Fighter Has More Heart?

There really is no scientific factual way of proving this. Fortunately for us, both of these fighters fight for the pride of their nations with all of their heart. I think we the fans should really feel lucky to have this matchup. In short, this would be a draw.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that it is a draw—both fighters fight with enormous heart

Which Fighter Has Better Defense?

Well, most experts would lean right away towards Pacquiao. It seems his defense and overall skills have improved tremendously since the Erik Morales trilogy. Hatton, however, has been also receiving a lot of hype from the mouth of his trainer Mayweather, who is one of the best defensive guru trainers in the sport.

But again, Mayweather has only had Hatton for only a year, and they only had one fight to show for their new improved style. So the safer assumption would lean again towards Pacquiao for he almost fought near perfect fights in his last two fights without even getting cleanly hit at all.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that Pacquiao has the better defense

Which Fighter Will Have the Bigger Fanbase That Night in the MGM GRAND?

Well, right away it would appear that no one right now has a larger fanbase that shows up to his fights than Ricky Hatton.

It has been reported that over 30,000 Hatton fans invaded Las Vegas for his fight against Mayweather, with the majority of them not even having a ticket to the fight or even renting a hotel room but just drinking and singing in the streets of Vegas in solidarity for Hatton.

Even though Pacquiao is the No. 1 pound for pound champion and has massive legions of fans of his own, if May 2 is anything like Hatton's fight with Mayweather, then it will be a pro-Hatton Vegas weekend May 2.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that Hatton will have the bigger fanbase presence on May 2 in Las Vegas

Which Fighter Is More So In His Prime Right Now?

Well, again there is no scientific factual way of proving this. But the consensus lists Pacquiao as the No. 1 pound for pound fighter in the world. He is coming off of two big KO wins over larger opponents. It could be safe to say he is improving significantly with each fight and has not lost a fight in his last nine fights.

Hatton is coming off of a TKO win where he was able to showcase to the world his new, more defensive-minded fighting style. Two fights prior to that was his one and only loss to former pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather. Many experts criticized a decline in Hatton's performance against Juan Lazcano despite his UD win.

However, Hatton is the current linear true champion at 140 and the IBO Ring Magazine champion at 140 as well.

It would be safe to say that overall out of the two, Pacquiao is more so in his prime than Hatton is at this point.

Result: It is a strong credible opinion that Pacquiao is more so in his prime

Is Hatton Really Getting Banged Up By His Sparring Partners?

With rumors circulating that Hatton's sparring partners have been getting the best of him during their spar sessions in his training camp, there is no official way of confirming this unless we have actual footage of the sparring.

What is a fact, however, is that Hatton himself appeared on HBO during the Paul Williams vs. Winky Wright fight and confirmed to Jim Lampley that he did indeed have two black eyes from sparring.

Result: Fact is that Hatton himself confirmed getting two black eyes from sparring

Is Pacquiao Really Battering His Sparring Partners?

Rumors were also circulating in Pacquiao's camp as well that he is dominating his sparring partners. It has been confirmed with photos and video footage, as well as scenes from HBO's 24/7 Pacquiao vs. Hatton, that Pacquiao indeed has been knocking out his larger, heavier sparring partners.

On one of the first days of camp, Pacquiao managed to deeply cut his larger heavier sparring partner's face even though he was wearing protective headgear. Also, Pacquiao in HBO's 24/7 Pacquiao vs. Hatton knocked out his larger, heavier sparring opponent with a single body shot.

Result: Fact—Pacquiao is indeed knocking out and cutting up his sparring partners 

In closing, one can better make an educated guess now on what the outcome will be come May 2, 2009. We have now taken a closer look in what has been confirmed as a fact and what is a strong credible opinion, and what may be just complete publicity or hype.

Fortunately for us fight fans, there was little to no fallacy when analyzing the advantages and strengths of these two great fighters. We have two of the most exciting, all action, all-out warriors stepping into that ring May 2, 2009. We just might finally get our very own: "2009 Hagler vs. Hearns"!

It is safe to say that, "It is a strong credible opinion that we the fight fans will be the winners come May 2, 2009!"

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