By Derek Baker: ‘Ladies and Gentleman and for the millions watching around the world, Lets get ready to rumble. Fighting out of the blue corner, he has a professional record of 53 bouts, 48 wins, 36 of them wins coming by way of knockout, with just 3 defeats. He is the former world Flyweight, Super Bantam weight, Super Featherweight champion and the current WBC Lightweight Champion of the world, the pride of the Philippines Manny ‘The Pac Man’ Pacquiao.
And fighting out of the Red corner, he has a perfect record of 39 bouts, 39 wins, 25 of them wins coming by way of knockout. He was voted as the fighter of the year for 2007, he is the former Super Featherweight Champion, former 2 times Lightweight champion, former Super Lightweight, Welterweight and Super Welterweight champion of the world. From Grand Rapids Michigan, Pretty Boy Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather’…
Surely, this is what we want to be hearing next at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. These two fighters are the best in the world, the speed, the combinations and also the power that these boxers’ posses, surely this is the dream fight. How rare you find two Boxers in the same generation, both arguably the best pound for pound Boxers in the world, having a chance to go toe to toe in the same ring?
However, I am guessing there are a few raised eye brows, or maybe a few readers shouting ‘What about Ricky Hatton? Surely, he deserves another shot at becoming the best pound for pound boxer in the world’. My answer to that would be, yes, he does. He is the people’s champion, the all action ‘Hitman’ having another opportunity to cement his legacy in the boxing world. Have we seen the best of Ricky Hatton? After the Paulie Malignaggi fight I am not sure we have. And credit where credit is due, love them or hate them, The Mayweather’s obviously were born to live in the boxing world.
Where does this leave us? We have three fighters after one prize, to be the best pound for pound boxer in the world. Does that mean we let Ricky Hatton fight Pacquiao, and the winner fights Mayweather Jnr? But then, what happens if Hatton beats Pacquio, then we may never see The Pac Man against Pretty Boy? And we have already seen Mayweather against Hatton, though I wouldn’t mind seeing Hatton have another crack at ‘Money Mayweather’.
So here comes the controversial part, that I am sure will attract a reaction. Before the Pacquiao versus Del la Hoya fight, we were all talking about, Wembley Stadium, Ricky Hatton, and Oscar Del La Hoya, two people’s champions. The popularity this fight would generate. So why not get this fight on? Ok, Del La Hoya was blown away by Pacquiao, but there was a serious weight issue there. I’m certain a few years ago Del La Hoya would have been conditioned enough to get down to the Welterweight level, and maintain his power and speed. Unfortunately, he is too old to do that now. Oscar Del La Hoya is a clever man, and I am sure he knows when to call it a day. But when the dust has settled, Oscar will surely look back and not want to depart the boxing world with a humiliating defeat. Ricky Hatton has said he would step up to Super Welterweight to fight these guys, so lets do it.
That way, we could have Ricky Hatton brawling at an open air venue, Wembley Stadium, in front of tens of thousands against Oscar Del La Hoya. ‘The battle of the people’s champions’
This then leaves the door open for Manny Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather. Which I am sure is a spectacle we all want to see. The year 2009 has the potential to be the best year in boxing for years; in fact potentially the best ever…How big are these two fights? And how much credibility would be restored in the boxing industry if this was to happen.
We already have David Haye against Vitali Klitschko; let’s hope these two fights can be added to the boxing calendar.
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