Could Hatton Beat Pacquiao?

Normally I would frame the question the other way around, asking whether the super lightweight Ricky Hatton, the naturally bigger fighter, could beat Manny Pacquiao, a super featherweight, but in watching how poorly Hatton did against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their December 8th bout, I have my doubts about how well Hatton would do against a fighter as fast as Pacquiao.

The whole idea of Hatton vs. Pacquiao isdue to Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who casually mentioned in a recent interview that the 29 year-old Hatton is someone that Pacquiao would like to fight after he finishes with Juan Manuel Marquez and David Diaz. Roach said this to Boxingtalk in references to Hatton, “Yes, and of course if we win that (fight at 135lbs), we want Ricky Hatton. Ricky had a great performance against Mayweather. There are certain guys at 140lbs that I will let Manny fight, and Ricky Hatton is one of them.

Hatton, though still quite young, has beginning to show signs of slowing down with his punches in his recent fights against Mayweather and Jose Luis Castillo. The cause is anyone’s guess but it’s likely a combination of his yo-yo dieting, in which he balloons up between fights, and the numerous shots he gets hit with with his face first style of fighting. It’s a style that’s not suited for long term boxing, and most fighters that fight in this manner usually are pretty much shot by the time they reach 30. Of course, Hatton has made it worse by tending to over eat and drink between fights, meaning that he’s often forced to take off 30-40 lbs each time he goes to training camp.

Pacquiao, however, is still as fast as ever, showing no signs of slowing down with his punches or his high volume offense. Certainly, he would have some problems with Hatton simply because he’d have to deal with the heavier Hatton trying to wrestle with him and lean on him all night long. However, Pacquiao would likely not allow Hatton to get in close, by using his footwork and fast hands to keep him constantly reaching on the outside. I see this as an easy decision for Pacquiao, if not another knockout. Pacquiao would likely catch Hatton coming in just as Mayweather did all night, and would probably stop him by the 9th or 10th round, if not earlier.

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Posted January 2nd, 2008 l 662 Views

Tags: Boxing, Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao

melvin:

If MayWeather fight Manny Pacquiao,I think MayWeather would be K.O by Manny Pacquiao! i think round 4 or round 5 if mayweather survive i think hes lucky to last in round 4 and 5…

posted January 17th, 2008 at 3:55 am

i think manny can beat hatton easyly cause pacquiao,would transform into super heavy puncher! hes a gifted fighter poses with speed and power! mark my word…

posted January 17th, 2008 at 3:31 am

JD from Hoeno.blogspot.com:

I’m skeptical that Pacquiao could make a strong transition too but I think that would be one of the best fights we could look forward too. I’d also like to see what Hatton/Witter would turn out like. Witter deserves a shot at Hatton after his streak of KOs I think.

posted January 6th, 2008 at 5:55 am

ZKO:

Pacquiao would have to gain 10% more body weight, bring his punching power up to the new weight division, not lose any of his speed and be as strong (if not stonger) than Hatton. In addition, he will have to learn the grappeling and “pop shot” technique that works well against Hatton. Seems like too much to ask of Pacquiao… but for $20M… maybe he’d give it a try (as Hatton gave Mayweather a try).

posted January 4th, 2008 at 6:53 pm

How POORLY Hatton did against Mayweather? You watched a different fight, my friend. Hatton got knocked out fair and square sure enough but he did poorly by no means against the greatest pound for pound fighter out there. Hatton was NOT slow either. Being slower than Mayweather doesn’t mean you are slow. I had Hatton winning several rounds early. I’ve never seen Floyd look as uncomfortable as he did in the first few rounds of that fight. Hatton’s footwork was great and he accomplished more in taking away Mayweather’s dancing space than anyone I’ve seen. He made his mistake of leading with his head more as the rounds went on and it lost him the fight but don’t disregard his entire performance, that’s not fair.

posted January 4th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

ron u.k.:

there seems to be constant joke articles being written either by the same hatton hater or several hatton haters.these articles and their authors simply have no credibility.only somebody whose total knowledge of boxing you could write down on the back of a postage stamp would pick pacquiao to have an easy points victory againsy hatton.it beggars belief hatton would kill him.

posted January 3rd, 2008 at 2:41 pm