By Eric Thomas: In a bit of good news for Hatton and Pacquiao fans, it appears that Manny and his team are now willing to accept the 50-50 purse split with Ricky, and have pulled back from the 60-40 split that they had requested a day earlier. According to the LA Times, the contract should be signed by tomorrow for the fight. “Everybody is now calmed down,” promoter Bob Arum said.
A day earlier, the fight had been nearly finished over this minor squabble, as Arum was ready to pull the plug unless Manny came back to the 50-50 purse split which the two fighters had originally agreed upon. Hatton, 30, wasn’t willing to accept the smaller cut and wanted nothing less than 50% for the May 2nd clash with Pacquiao.
Now that this bit of excitement is over, the two fighters can settle down and continue their preparation for the battle. Many fans and experts are torn over who will win this fight, but it seems that a slight advantage is being put in Pacquiao’s corner, due to his speed, power and slightly better ring experience than Hatton.
However, Ricky has the size advantage and will be fighting for the second time with his new trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., who was brought on board to teach Hatton how to box more, get hit less and get more mileage out of his body.
However, Hatton was still getting hit a lot in his last fight with Paulie Malignaggi, so it’s obviously going to take awhile before he learns enough of the things taught to him by Mayweather Sr. to employee them successfully in the heat of battle.
At the end of the day, Hatton may never learn enough for it to really matter and will for the most part remain the type of fighter he’s always been – a mauling inside fighter, known for his hard body attacks and leaping hooks. Hopefully, Mayweather can keep Hatton from throwing as many wild hooks as he’s done in the past, because it seems that his opponents have figured out his tendency to throw these punches and are making him pay for it now.
Pacquiao looked very impressive in stopping boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya in an 8th round stoppage in December. In that fight, Pacquiao showed incredible speed, movement and power as he tagged the older De La Hoya with hard combinations at close range and was able to get away before De La Hoya could do anything about it. In that fight, Pacquiao showed perhaps why he might be far too good for Hatton to beat.
With his ability to get in punching range in a fraction of a second to throw lighting fast shots and then get away, Pacquiao will be very tough for a fighter like Hatton to hit. Ricky had fought most of his career against opposition that has been there for him to hit. Aside from his fights against Floyd Mayweather and Malignaggi, Hatton has fought mostly fighters that have come to him.
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