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'THE BATTLE OF EAST AND WEST' PREMIERES IN HOLLYWOOD By Granville Ampong PhilBoxing.com Wed, 01 Apr 2009  Two great fighters hailing from two empires strike back from the ends of the earth: one for supremacy and the other for redemption staging ?The Battle of the East and West? on May 2 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada REPORTING FROM ROOSEVELT HOTEL, HOLLYWOOD, California (March 30, 2009) - Beckoning us back to the glorious days of Old Hollywood, two great men crossed their paths today at the Roosevelt Hotel but joined in a symmetry of sportsmanship over indignation - all for supremacy versus redemption, in fact. Ricky ?The Hitman? Hatton, an international superstar hailing from Manchester, England, said this: ?I will give Manny Pacquiao the hell of a fight; I am the stronger and the bigger man.? But, Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao, officially proclaimed a National Treasure by the Philippine Government, said this: ?I respect Hatton because he is a nice guy. But, in the ring, we will fight for freedom.? It is one of the ironies of these two great boxers from England and Philippines respectively that these modern heroes in boxing and in the realm of influence outside of the ring of violence brought the spotlight back to this historic Roosevelt Hotel that stands as the cornerstone of the Hollywood renaissance where the luminaries hosted their first-ever Academy Awards ceremony in the Blossom Room in the early 1900s. Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) and Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) scored their only pre-fight press conference in the United States hot and raw garnering tremendous response from the mainstream media, banking on the potential of a great fight for the International Boxing Federation Light Welterweight Championship this May 2 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton, Ring Magazine 2005 Fighter of the Year, will defend his title. But, he will enter the ring as the underdog against the undisputed current Pound-for-Pound King of boxing. ?It?s going to be the fight of the decade,? said Richard Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of the Golden Boy Promotions, ?We have two great fighters who are willing to give their lives in the ring.? Asked about how he compares this promotion to others such as Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Schaefer said: ?Well, De la Hoya-Mayweather Event was a big fight. But, we have Ricky Hatton who fought last year in front of over 58,000 people in England. And we have Manny Pacquiao who is unarguably bigger than the president of the Philippines. So, these two are clearly the most popular fighters in the world today. They deserve the red carpet right here on Hollywood Boulevard.? Asked further as to how he sees the fight: ?I think the strength and the size would matter most.? Schaefer added saying that ?Ricky Hatton has the edge considering that he is undefeated at 140 pounds and he fought great fighters including Luis Castillo of Mexico and Kostya Tszyu of Australia.? But, Top Rank Godfather Bob Arum firmly believed that Manny Pacquiao has the speed and power much greater than what Ricky Hatton can deliver. Meanwhile, Floyd Mayweather, Sr., trainer of Hatton, disclosed his game plan for dethroning the Pound-for-Pound Champion of the world. ?The game plan is to rock Pacman to the rope and to take him down twice with body shots,? said Mayweather, Sr. in a comical flair. ?Hatton will not only take him down; he will take him out.? Mayweather, Sr. bragged himself that he is the smartest trainer having the smartest fighter. And, ?how the hell can you lose?? He further asserted. Mayweather, Sr. further predicted that ?Hatton will knock him out in five rounds.? But, Freddie Roach said he believes otherwise saying ?Pacquiao will take him out in three rounds.? On the other hand, Hatton confessed that his main problem with Pacquiao would be the speed. But, he believed that he has better footwork than Pacquiao, and that it would be much easier for him to outbox the latter, he said. Pacquiao, whose faith and his boxing career are somewhat inseparable, maintained his usual response saying ?Nobody knows who will win on May 2nd.? In a rhetorical fashion, he added. ?Only God knows.? Pacquiao further declared: ?We just have to pray that nobody will get hurt, including the undercards.? But, he considered this fight as the toughest one of his boxing career. Elated and upbeat, Pacquiao told the VIPs and the media that he is looking forward to play cards with Hatton after the fight, in that they will be friends afterwards. Meanwhile, what had become a great night at Roosevelt was not without tremendous support from fans that flooded across Hollywood Boulevard and rushed toward the stage fronting the news media and eventually entered forcibly into the lobby of the hotel. In addition, many celebrities attended the event as well. Among them were Hollywood Actor Mark Wahlberg who, before he started acting, was best known as Marky Mark ? the pants-dropping rapper who attained fame and notoriety with his group the Funky Bunch and, another, American football star McGuinness. Because of the prospect of excellent marketing mix by the promoters and the support this event gets from the wide range of audience, nonetheless, the anticipation is growing and the 20 x 20 foot canvas set on stage at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas will soon be painted with black and blue masterpiece that the world is anxious to see. The bout will be produced and televised live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. Pacquiao vs. Hatton ?The Battle of East and West,? presented by Rockstar Energy Drink and promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank in association with Manny Pacquiao Promotions and Hatton Promotions, is a 12-round bout for Hatton?s IBO and Ring Magazine World Junior Welterweight title. The fight is also sponsored by Cerveza Tecate and Southwest Airlines. Tickets, priced at $1,000, $750, $500, $300 and $150, can be purchased through Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available online at www.mgmgrand.com. Top photo: Boxing superstars Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines (L) and Ricky Hatton of Britain pose during their appearance in Hollywood Monday to promote their May 2 megafight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Photo by Leoncio Royo, Jr., Maharlikan Times. Note: Granville Ampong is L.A.-based journalist regularly writing for Philboxing.com, Manila-US Times, Nevada Examiner, California Examiner, Tribune-USA, Negros Chronicle, BoxingRepublic.com, AmericaFront.com and Maharlikan Times. You may visit his site at www.MaharlikanTimes.com. (Maharlikan Times is a dynamic news service and public relations agency). Click here to view a list of other articles written by Granville Ampong.  |
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