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THE PACQUIAO-HATTON SHOOTOUT By Pj Magno De Best PhilBoxing.com Wed, 18 Feb 2009  When Filipino fighting sensation Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao dances inside the square ring with the United Kingdom's Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton on May 2nd, 2009 at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, fight fans will be treated to a potential fight of the year. This shootout between two of boxing's biggest superstars is the most anticipated fight at this point of 2009. PHILIPPINES FINEST Pacquiao is not only the current pound for pound king of boxing, but more importantly a symbol of hope for a whole nation of supporters that have experienced consistent hardship and political turmoil throughout it's history. Thanks to Manny's lead, the Philippine boxing scene has reestablished itself as a boxing powerhouse and with lots of prospects and world rated fighters coming out of the 7,107 islands, the nation has reached a golden era in boxing. ENGLAND'S BOY Accross the other side of the planet Manchester's favorite son has an army of solid supporters who are willing to pay top $ to see their favorite prize fighter square off with anyone they put in front of him. The British have a long line of love for boxing and bare knuckle fighting. They were the nation who modernized the sport by giving it its first set of rules in 1743. They followed it up with new rules in 1838 called the famous London Prize Rules before being overtaken by the Marquess of Queensberry Rules in 1867. Before America took over the sport in the 1900's, England was the most established and respected powerhouse in world boxing. Boxing is certainly in the blood of the British. RECORDS Manny Pacquiao comes into the ring with a record of 48 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws, 36 ko's and is universally recognized as the pound for pound boxing king. Ricky Hatton brings a record of 45 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws, 32 ko's with him as well as the IBO light welterweight title and is Ring Magazines top 140 pounder. Pacquiao has never fought at 140 pounds. Hatton has never lost at 140 pounds. The betting world is with Manny, but the records show a tougher fight to predict. ARTILLERY Manny is 169cm tall and has a reach of 170cm. He is a very fast handed southpaw fighter with power in both hands and has shown an incredible amount of improvement in his boxing skills thanks to the hard work Freddie Roach has put in. Hatton is 171cm tall and has a reach of 165cm. He is a solid workhouse who likes to get his work done on the inside. He's amongst the best in the world at digging the body and likes to play the bully inside the ring. Since gaining Floyd Mayweather Sr as his new coach, Hatton has shown some improvement in his skill level but still likes to get in a brawl whenever possible. OPPONENTS Both men have fought top level opposition in their respective careers. Manny's most recent fight was a one way beat down of Oscar De La Hoya in which De La Hoya quit. Hatton's most recent fight was also a one way beating of Paul Malignaggi in which his trainer quit for him. Manny's record consists of big named opponents such as Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrerra, Erik Morales, David Diaz and Oscar De La Hoya. Hatton's record brings in the names of Kostya Tszyu, Jose Luis Castillo, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Juan Urango and Paul Malignaggi. STYLES MAKE FIGHTS Speed + Strength = Power... Manny has plenty of that but he needs room to move so he can generate his punch power from a distance; the only thing is, Ricky Hatton stays on his opponents like a bad rash. Freddie Roach and Manny need to come up with a good game plan to neutralize Ricky's bull rush style. If they don't, it could be another Hatton vs Tszyu all over again. The hit and hold strategy seems to work well for Hatton. He is able to frustrate his opponents enough before imposing his will on them. Hatton can turn a boxing match into a street fight and he uses illegal tactics when it serves him. I can't recall Manny ever fighting dirty but I witnessed him getting bothered by a dirty fighting style. If you remember the time that he fought the late Agapito Sanchez, he had a bit of trouble dealing with the dirtiness of the fight... Hatton can be another Fritzie Zivic when he wants to. He is an alley cat that likes to get down and dirty. Pacquiao is far too clean of a fighter to resort to illegal tactics but this may be the fight where Manny has to do unto others as he has done to him. I think the uppercut will be crucial for Manny in this fight. Hatton does tremendous work to the body and perhaps Pacquiao can catch Hatton reaching in with a hard uppercut. With Ricky's solid chin, Manny would definitely have to follow up with a powerful combination if he where to land the uppercut. I think keeping a good distance and boxing will serve Manny well. He has the speed, footwork and movement to be evasive enough to not get caught flush by Hatton. Manny has a tremendous chin but has been stopped to the body before. Hatton, being the body punching king that he is will have taken note of that and will use it as often as he can to try and stop the movement of Manny. If he can stay on top of Manny and apply non stop pressure mixed with a violent body attack, he may be able to break Manny down, but if he gives Manny room to move, Hatton may get knocked out. THE PREDICTION I maybe a Filipino but I'm certainly not partisan. The money is on Manny but this fight is too close to call. I think someone will get stopped but am not willing to speculate. Both men cut, so I wouldn't be surprised if it goes to the scorecards on that... Whatever the outcome, let's hope that these two war horses can give boxing a battle for the ages. This is what boxing needs... Two of the best, willing to fight each other... Pj Magno De Best www.BoxingRepublic.com Click here to view a list of other articles written by Pj Magno De Best.  |
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