Ricky Hatton will be dismantled and knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in their ?40 million light-welterweight superfight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, and will go on to face Amir Khan within 12 months, Freddie Roach, the esteemed Los Angeles-based trainer has predicted.
Roach, who trains both Pacquiao and Khan at his Hollywood Wild Card Gym, speaking exclusively to The Telegraph, said: “Hatton is close to the end of his career. If Manny does what I think he will do to Hatton, and if it all goes to plan, we will knock him out and bust him up.
“If that does happen, I would say Amir is close to a fight with Ricky, which is a huge fight in the UK, a sell-out. We have been working on Amir’s mental game, and he is getting stronger all the time.”
Khan is already inked in to step up from the lightweight division to light-welterweight (140lb) on June 27 to challenge Andreas Kotelnik for the World Boxing Organisation title he holds. A victory in that contest would also bring the two British fighters, also good friends, closer to a meeting in the ring.
Khan has admitted in the last week that he would relish the opportunity of fighting Hatton.
Roach said: “We’re almost ready to put Khan in against Hatton. We’ve been working on his mental game, making him spar and shadow box twelve rounds, and we want him to step up in competition. It’s two fights away. In a Hatton-Khan fight, the winner would go on to bigger and better things; the loser would have to go away and think about doing something else.”
“Sugar Ray Leonard stayed around too long, and had the s*** kicked out of him. I like Ricky, I like his family, I believe in hard work. But you can’t everything you want. I think he is close to the end. So is Manny, come to that. They can fight more if they want to. But I don’t think they will go on more than a year.”
In Las Vegas, Hatton disagreed with Roach’s assessment, convinced that he has the power to stop Pacquiao. Hatton told The Daily Telegraph that latterly, he regrets not having changed trainers sooner. Hatton parted company with long-term trainer Billy Graham last year, to go under the tutelage of Floyd Mayweather Snr. It was Mayweather’s son, his namesake, who gave Hatton his most horrific night in a ring back in December 2007, and his only defeat in 47 pro fights.
“Who knows, the outcome in the Mayweather fight may have been different if I had changed training camps. Maybe I needed this move pre-Mayweather. I feel a real impetus about my work now. Maybe I should not have been with Billy [Graham] when I fought Floyd Mayweather [Jnr]. I made life easy for Floyd.
“If the Ricky Hatton of today who is moving his head, jabbing more, fighting with a more technical mix – rather than trying to steamroll opponents – had been against Floyd that night, maybe there would have been a better chance of beating him.”
Hatton insists he sees weaknesses in Pacquiao. “Manny feints a lot, tries to draw you on to his punches, but does run in carelessly and puts all his eggs in one basket when he goes for that left hand. If he misses, he is wide open.”
“A lot of people keep saying power and strength against speed. I’m not saying I’m quicker than Manny but I’m not far behind the way I am fighting at the minute. I don’t want that to backfire on me, but I’m absolutely convinced this fight against Manny is mine. I couldn’t be more sure.”
