TalkingBoxing Articles
Boxing Still Alive as Pacquiao, Hatton Close to Deal
TUE January 6, JAMES STILLERMAN - Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao's thoroughly dominating victory over Oscar De La Hoya a month ago helped to cement his status as the best pound for pound fighter in the world, as well as locking up the fighter of the year award. It also set up a blockbuster fight for 2009 against Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton. This fight could happen on May 2nd at the light welterweight division (140 pounds). The venue and location (probably in Las Vegas, Nevada) is the only thing that needs to be decided before this bout becomes official.
Both pugilists are coming off productive 2008 campaigns and will look to 2009 as being another big year that can enhance their fighting careers.
On December 6th Pacquiao, 48-3-3, 36KOs, surprised a number of fight fans and experts alike with how easily he destroyed De La Hoya, enroute to a eighth round technical stoppage. Pacquiao was a 2-1 underdog going into the fight and had fought only one fight above the lightweight division (130); yet he dominated every minute of the entire bout. He won virtually every single round as he took the fight to De La Hoya, who simply had no answers for the quicker stronger opponent.
Pacquiao also defeated David Diaz in June when he won the WBC Lightweight belt by way of a ninth round technical knockout garnering him belts in his fourth weight class. Moreover, he beat Juan Manual Marquez (a top ten pound for pound fighter in the world)in March via a close spilt-decision for the WBC super featherweight title. In 2008, Pacquiao won three fights in three separate divisions while winning two world title which something that not a lot of boxers have accomplished.
Hatton, the reining IBO and Ring Magazine champion in the light welterweight division, also had a productive year bouncing back from his first professional defeat against Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather Jr. to beat Juan Lazcano by unanimous decision in May. While Hatton, 45-1, 32KOs, struggled in this bout and got staggered on more than one occasion, he was still in control and was severely hampered by an upper respiratory infection that diminished his performance in the fight.
Nevertheless, Hatton dominated Lazcano for most of the night and won by wide margins on the scorecards. Then with most people writing him off and proclaiming that his career was over after struggling against Lazcano, he proved many people wrong with his impressive technical knockout victory over Paul Malignaggi on November 22nd. Hatton stopped Malignaggi in the eleventh round when Malignaggi's trainer Buddy McGuirt Sr. threw in the towel with forty eight seconds left in the round. Hatton stopped Malignagg, something than Miguel Cotto had not done when he fought Malignaggi in 2006. Throughout the fight, Hatton walked through Malignaggi`s best punches and continued to hammer away at his opponent as he won virtually every single round.
Now Hatton and Pacquiao, two thirty year old fighters with a combined record of 93-4-3, 68KOs, collide in an epic bout that will certainly produce record numbers at the box office and with television rating since both men have enormous followings. Hatton garners support from Britain, while Pacquiao gets backing from the Philippines where both men obtain extremely high levels of popularity in their native countries. Pacquiao, Hatton, and their fans have the potential to produce one of the biggest fights in years and even top the last record setting bout which was between De La Hoya and Mayweather Jr.
This should be an entertaining fight with all out action between two of boxing's biggest superstars. Hatton and Pacquiao are both crowd pleasing fighters who never take a step back and are always looking to land the powerful blow. They have smothering offensives where they attack their opponents and throw a great deal of punches and their hand speed is pretty good.
In addition, both pugilists have great trainers in their corners. Floyd Mayweather Sr. was in Hatton' corner for the first time and helped Hatton improve his defense and guide him to a top performance since Hatton's victory over Kostya Tszyu in 2005. Meanwhile, Freddy Roach has improved Pacquiao over the years by fixing his defense and improving his offense by having Pacquiao throwing more jabs and punches from different angles. Hatton and Pacquiao`s lone weakness is their defense where it's a bit porous at times since they get hit with an overwhelming number of shots in their bouts. Therefore, the fighter who is able to display the better defense will most likely be the one emerging victorious.
Pacquiao will probably be the early favorite in this fight after the beating applied to De La Hoya. Pacquiao has the slight edge in speed and defense over Hatton and has shown he is effective when moving up in weight (Diaz and De La Hoya), something Hatton has struggled to do by barely beating Luis Collazo and losing to Mayweather, both at welterweight. However, Hatton always seems to rise to the occasion in mega fights as demonstrated by his victories over Tszyu, Jose Castillo, and Malignaggi. Furthermore, he has never lost a fight at light welterweight and he'll have the slight edge in power. Hatton is also more suited to light welterweight since he has fought his entire career in this division, whereas this is Pacquiao`s first fight at 140.
There is another significant incentive for the winner of the bout in not only further enhancing their careers but also setting up a potential fight with Mayweather Jr. who has expressed a great deal of interest in coming out of retirement and fighting the winner of this bout. Hatton would enjoy nothing more than avenging the only loss on his record while Pacquiao would cherish the opportunity to further cement his status as the best pound for pound boxer in the world by beating Mayweather Jr. as well as adding to his legendary status.
The winner of the Hatton-Pacquiao v Mayweather Jr. bout could be another blockbuster fight that has 2009 picking up where it left off in 2007-2008 with more significant fights. It seems Joe Calzaghe's comments about boxing being a dying sport can't be further from the truth.
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