Another Step Towards Greatness: Manny Pacquiao Vs Ricky Hatton

Its just two days until the big match up between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao.  An incredible match-up in its own right, our tastebuds for this fight have only been teased by the constant media coverage it has recieved. 

One can only wonder what its like in Las Vegas right now with all of the Englishmen flocking to the States to watch their fellow countryman clash against the pound for pound best fighter in the game right now.  Whatever the case may be, all one truly can ask for out of all of this build-up, is for an exciting fight on Saturday Night's Pay Per View show. 

Around this time last year, Ricky Hatton was preparing for his return to the ring after a humbling defeat at the hands of Floyd "Money" Mayweather just six months beforehand.  There were many questions concerning Hatton's situation and whether or not he would be able to rebound from such a devistating defeat. 

Having returned to his natural weight class, would he be able to continue his evident dominance in said weight class, or would the loss effect him so much mentally that he would have to seriously consider the very real talk of retirement that was suggested to him six months previous. 

Hatton would go on to achieve a workmanlike, yet unimpressive victory against Juan Lazcano in which he showed weaknesses and was hurt on several occasions by the same shot that knocked him out in the Mayweather fight, the left hook. Surely this was not all that was left of Ricky Hatton. 

Hopefully, the British Native had something left in the tank. Eventually, changes were made in the Hatton Camp, mainly a trainer change that would prove to benefit Ricky Hatton in his next match against the elusive Paulie Malignaggi.  

Under the watchful eye of Floyd Mayweather Sr., certain aspects of Ricky Hatton's fighting style were honed and conditioned to make him a more efficient fighting machine rather than just a raging bull. These would prove useful in this fight as over 11 rounds, Ricky Hatton would batter and bully a completely overmatched Malignaggi until finally Buddy Mcgirt threw in the towel, having watched his fighter get punished enough.  Ricky Hatton was officially BACK!

Around this time last year, Manny Pacquiao was preparing for what would be a short lived campaign at 135.  He would make his debut in devastating fashion by completely pounding out David Diaz in a nine round massacre which ended with Diaz laying face first on the canvas.  Those who questioned whether or not Pacquiao would be able to carry his power up in weight with him had just recieved their answer.

Manny would then go on to sign a deal to face Oscar De La Hoya in a match that was completely one sided in terms of competition.  Pac-Man cut through De La Hoya like a hot knife through butter.

While most experts were critical of this match, claiming the Golden Boy was trying to pull off his best "Golden Bully" impression, it would go on to bite De La Hoya in his side. 

Pacquiao completely pummeled Oscar for 8 straight rounds.  When Oscar refused to answer the bell at the beginning of the 9th, the crown of Pound for Pound Best fighter on the planet was passed on to Manny Pacquiao.

Which leads us here, in possibly one of the better years for boxing in the past decade.  Although, or possibly because our economy is extremely weak, it would appear that many of our favorite pugilists have decided to pull out all the stops as of late. 

Many fighters are deciding that rather than tip toeing around the negotiation tables and making excuses for why they should not fight one another, that the best place to settle their differences(and put money in their wallets) would be inside of the squared circle.

Here we have another highly competitive match-up in Pacquiao vs. Hatton.  This fight has all of the makings of a highly entertaining match-up. 

Both men are very aggressive in their respective fighting styles and neither one is going to run away from the other, hurt or not.  What will make the difference in this match are two things, desire and efficiency.

Manny Pacquiao is an extremely active fighter who uses good footwork, head movement, and high activity to accompany his incredible power that has followed him with every weight class he has fought at to this date. These skills have helped him completely overwhelm his opponents over the years. 

In this match, he won't have to do much different in order to get the victory. 

Manny truly will just have to continue being Manny, all while not allowing Hatton to smother and overpower him.  While many experts claim that Hatton holds claim to certain intangibles that may give Pacquiao trouble.

The fact of the matter is that while Hatton may be somewhat stronger than Pacquiao, he is the exact type of fighter that Pac-Man can "eat alive".  Six months with Floyd Mayweather Sr will not be enough to break Hatton out of his bad habits, which include a lack of defensive ability. 

The only fighters that have had success against Pacquiao have been sharp counterpunchers with good defense and sharp boxing skill.  Hatton is good, but he is going to be who he is, and in order to get the victory, he is going to have to do more than a slight improvement on the usual.

In order for Ricky Hatton to win this match, we will need to see more improvement in his overall boxing ability.  While Ricky has the ability to crowd, smother, frustrate and maul his opponents, he will definitely need more than that to beat Pacquiao. 

First of all, he will need to throw more punches.  Coming straight forward and throwing 3 punches will not be enough when in the ring with a fighter of Manny's ability.  That in fact will only get Ricky knocked out again. 

To win, Hatton will have to make use of his jab and use more effective movement and aggressiveness. He will have to be less predictable in his movement, while using affective aggressiveness to help nullify Manny's speed.  IF Hatton is able to do this, we just might see an upset on Saturday night.

That, however, is not something that this writer believes he is going to see on Saturday.  While it will be an entertaining match, I believe that speed will be the key in this match up, and that advantage belongs to Manny Pacquiao. 

You cannot teach an old dog new tricks, and Hatton is not the type of fighter who has the reflexes and ability to outslick Manny Pacquiao.  Once he recognizes that staying on the outside with Pac-Man will not work in his case, Hatton will result to old habits and go back to using bullrushing and mauling tactics. 

These tactics will only cause him to get hit hard and often by Pacquiao.  He(Hatton) may be able to land some decent shots in the fight, but it won't be enough against an always game Pacquiao. 

I believe it will be an entertaining, yet truly one-sided affair that will result in an 11th round stoppage in favor of Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao.  Hatton might be tough, but as Clint Eastwood said in "Million Dollar Baby", tough ain't enough.