LAS VEGAS: Manny ?PacMan? Pacquiao will win by technical knockout by the ninth round, according to editors of Ring Magazine.
This prediction by Ring, which is considered ?the Bible of boxing,? jibes with the prognosis of Pacquiao?s trainer Freddie Roach that Manny would find a way to knock out Britain?s Ricky Hatton in the late rounds of their super fight on Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines). At stake is Hatton?s International Boxing Organization?s light welterweight title.
?Pacquiao should enjoy success early on using his feet as much as his hands to keep a healthy distance between Hatton and himself, while he peppers the champ with jabs and straight shots to the body,? Ring said.
Stressing that the winner will be determined by distance, it added, ?Whoever can establish it and control it will win.?
The Ring editors said it would be to Hatton?s advantage to close the distance and impose his size and strength on Pacquiao on the inside.
?If he can back Pacquiao to the ropes, he can dish out punishment. If he can?t get inside, he?s going to get punished by the quicker, sharper, busier puncher. Hatton will be careful in the early rounds as he tries to employ some of Mayweather?s technique to get in close without getting caught with anything flush,? they added. Mayweather is the retired World Boxing Council welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who beat Hatton in 2007 when the British boxer was still fighting as a welterweight.
?Pacquiao should enjoy success early on using his feet as much as his hands to keep a healthy distance between Hatton and himself, while he peppers the champ with jabs and straight shots to the body,? Ring said.
Hatton also confident
Hatton, however, brushed aside these grim forecasts and said he will ?shock? the favored Pacquiao on fight night.
?Pacquiao can be hit, and he?s been hurt before,? Hatton said during an interview on Thursday at the MGM Grand Arena. ?Manny has a tendency to open himself up when on the attack, and I think that?s how we?ll get him.?
?Manny opens his defense up when on the offensive and the same is true I think of all boxers and that?s what we?re gonna exploit.
?I?ll take him to the ropes, cut him off on the spin and exert a lot of pressure on him,? Hatton said, citing the fact that Pacquiao was hurt by world lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez in their rematch in March 2008.
?PacMan? ready
Pacquiao said he is ready for Hatton?s relentless aggression and his tendency to bulldoze his way at the start of the bell.
He added that he is wary of Hatton?s body shots but that he is ready to give the British star a dose of his own medicine with body attacks of his own.
?I noticed that Hatton does not like being hit in the body also,? noted Pacquiao, who remains the heavy favorite to win his fifth world title.
?If he wants a brawl, I am ready for a brawl,? he said in Filipino. ?I expect this fight to be full of action, and I?m ready for him.?
Although Pacquiao refused to predict the outcome of the fight even when pressed by reporters, he said that he does not see Hatton upsetting him.
Even World Boxing Association welterweight champion Sugar Shane Mosley is giving Pacquiao a slight edge because of Manny?s speed and boxing skills.
Mosley, a partner of Golden Boy Promotions, which is promoting Hatton in the United States, said that the two are ?evenly matched and the fight can go either way.?
?Manny is the faster guy and has better boxing skills,? he added. ?But he?s up against someone who?s bigger and stronger. Ricky is a relentless aggressor, so I expect a thrilling fight that boxing fans will really like.?
Meanwhile, both Pacquiao and Hatton said they would easily make weight during the official weigh-in today.
A member of Team Pacquiao said the Filipino icon is almost at the 140-pound-weight limit. Hatton said he is ?almost there,? although he said he would do some light workout Thursday just to flex his muscles.
