Pacquiao vs Hatton Prefight Analysis
April 15th, 2009
By Sam Gregory: In one of the most anticipated fights in recent memory, Ring magazines pound for pound number one fighter Manny Pacquiao 48-3 with 36 KO’s will take on the undisputed 140 pound champ Ricky Hatton 45-1 with 32 KO’s, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2nd for Hatton’s Jr welterweight title.
I’m not going to make a prediction here, every other website and boxing writer has already done that; I’ll just present the facts and you do your own predicting.
Ricky Hatton has a slight size advantage going into this fight; probably not enough to overpower Pacquiao but it will come down to Hatton being able to neutralize his hand speed, foot work and Pacquiao’s unrelenting attack.
In Pacquiao’s last fight against De La Hoya it was his footwork and dynamic combinations along with his relentless attack that was too much for De La Hoya to handle but his power punch output speaks volumes for how he won the fight. Speaking on HBO’s 24/7 Hatton said, “That was not the De La Hoya we all grew to know and love” but in black and white the numbers don’t lie. In that fight Pacquiao landed 224 of 585 punches thrown (38 percent) to De La Hoya’s 83 punches landed of 402 punches thrown (21 percent). In power punches, a category that will be more pertinent to the Hatton-Pacquiao matchup; the southpaw Pacquiao landed 195 of 333 power punches thrown (59 percent) to De La Hoya’s 51 of 164 (31 percent).
De La Hoya made his jab the most important part of his fight plan; he hoped to land an average of 35 jabs per round to neutralize Pacquiao’s speed, combinations and power punches coming from the southpaw stance. De La Hoya came up short of that number, managing to only throw 29 per round and landing an average of 13 percent of his jabs thrown. What most people don’t know is that Pacquiao only landed 29 of 252 or just 11 percent of his jabs thrown. So how did Pacquiao overwhelmingly dominate De La Hoya in the fight? According to Compubox, “Pacquiao’s success in power connects” was the reason he dominated the fight.
In Ricky Hatton’s last fight against Paulie Malignaggi his numbers ultimately reflected his dominance as he averaged 47 punches landed per round to Malignaggi’s 31 punches per round landed. In order for Malignaggi to win his fight with Hatton he needed to use his jab the way he did in his fight with Lovemore N’ dou to neutralize Hatton’s pressure; obviously Malignaggi didn’t win against Ricky Hatton because Hatton (especially since he’s been under the training of Floyd Mayweather Sr) was able to neutralize his opponent’s jab while doubling up on his own jab which he used to set up his power punches. The result was Hatton landed 99 of 377 power punches thrown (26 percent) to Malignaggi’s 25 of 133 (19 percent). Hatton out-performed his challenger in every round and reached double-digit connects in five of the ten completed rounds, including rounds seven through ten.
These statistics are evidence that Ricky Hatton has transformed into a boxer from a “bullying brawler” in his fight against Paulie Malignaggi. Ricky Hatton has methodically changed his fighting style since his fight with his trainer’s son. He now picks his moments and has added some defensive arsenal in his fighting style. If this will be a plus for Hatton only time will tell. All his life he fought straight-up, brawling with his opponents. Will this change in his style help him defend his title against Manny Pacquiao?
I think it all comes down to Hatton being able to retain his composure when he feels Pacquiao’s power. Paulie Malignaggi is a weak boxer who depended on scoring points to win fights. Manny Pacquiao is a totally different type of a fighter.
Ricky Hatton is the king of the 140 pound division and no one has beaten him at that weight. That is a fact; at least for now it is. Whether or not Ricky Hatton can maintain his composure in his fight with Manny Pacquiao remains to be seen. If he does there will be no doubt who the pound for pound king is; at least until Floyd Mayweather Jr challenges the winner of this fight.
As of the second week in April these are the betting odds going into this fight.
Manny Pacquiao is currently listed as a -200 favorite to win in this fight. Ricky Hatton is listed as a +160 underdog.
This means that a successful $200 wager on Pacquiao would yield a total profit of $100, while a successful $100 wager on Hatton would yield a profit of $160.
The Over/Under for this fight is currently set at 9 1/2 rounds, with the Over going for -145 and the Under going for +105
Both sides are predicting that this fight will not go the distance.
Tags: 22 Responses to “Pacquiao vs Hatton Prefight Analysis”
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I think Rex now has a right to be conceited.
Weather you’re a fan of Manny or you’re a fan of Hatton, any intelligent fan knows that both have a shot of winning this. I feel Manny can win this if he executes the proper game plan and doesn’t allow Hatton to bully him around, but I also feel that Hatton has a puncher’s chance of winning if he is able to catch Manny with a few power shots. I think that Hatton is going to be the strongest puncher Manny’s ever faced, so I’m not sure what kind of effect Hatton’s punches will have on him.
To be fair Rex, at least Scott can write coherent sentences.
SDAIF
If you knew boxing that well you would realise that hatton has beaten one of the current light weilter weight champions and thats IBF champion Juan urango and was his first defence after he beat kostya tsu.
As I said in the Perez love fest article both fighters have advantages over each other in some areas and both have flaws. Perhaps Hatton is a great boxer but most of his fights have been more brawling. He is strong and has some quickness. If he forces Pacquiao into a slugging match then he has the advantage. Manny has also brawled, but he showed against Marquez that he has very fast hands and good movement. His movement is better than Hatton’s. If Pacquiao can keep up the movement and keep his hands moving, then he can win a decision or like the other poster above, he can catch Hatton like Mayweather did. All said it will be an interesting fight. I like both fighters, but I am for Pacquiao this fight. I think Pacquiao’s chances against Mayweather are a bit better as his training has been more consistent. I doubt Floyd Sr. would stick around and train Hatton to fight Jr.
Rex, you are a bit of a spangle arent you?
If you had actually read and understood my comment, you would have realised i wasnt comparing Pac and Paulie, what i said was Pac isnt as elusive as Malignaggi, meaning Malignaggi is a slicker harder to hit fighter than Pac. Id never compare the two, the two of them are like night and day, but Paulie is harder to hit.
What makes you think Pac is as good as Taz (ie Loony Tunes!!!)? Stellar wind, little tornado????????? Give us a break.
Ive heard this nonsense for too long now, “Ricky Fatton” king or 140lb” says who? surely u need to have a world propper world title or have previousley fought and beaten the current world champions to be labeled as such(only british fans by the way),hatton has done neither, has he fought bradley, Holt, Torres, and the likes? So stop with it, and get down to reality, he is the current bogus IBO champion and thats it. \im not here to discuss who wuill win on may 2nd rather to put ppls misconceptions in their true place. and what absolute nonsense that malinaggi was hes closest rival at that time, everybody know any of the above fighters would have spanked malinaggi like hatton did.
i totally agree with jon d.spot on m8.hope hatton proves me wrong though.
Hatton has always had great boxing skills,it was only in his last few fights with the preacher in his corner that his performances looked flat. Ricky has always been able to combine agression, power and boxing abillity, as shown in his earlier fights against opponents like eamon mcghee, ben takki, vince phillips and kostya tszu. These oppinions considered, pacman is a fantastic box fighter, with speed and power, who is in with more than a chance. For me, Hatton will win by stoppage, with savage body shots, which manny has shown weakness to in the past. But I know it could easily go the other way, as both boxers are world class. I am confident for hatton, yet nervous. (if that makes sense)
I like the way people class hatton as just a slugger he can box when he wants to this was proved against mallinagi, the differance now is hes got floyd Snr in his corner and not billy graham. The preacher was a good trainer but he was suffering with his fitness. Hatton seems more confident than ever, pacman will give him a good fight but i think hatton will win by late stoppage and i am talking 11th or 12th or points win. good luck to them both
Pacquiao was in great shape for the DLH fight. DLH wasnt.
Pacquiao will be in great shape for the Hatton fight. So will Hatton.
Those who claim Pacmans skills alone won him the fight and DLH’s fitness had nothing to do with it are deluded. But Pacman was STILL in great shape and who knows, could of beat a healthy DLH.
Surely now everything to be said about this up and coming fight has been said.
The views are split, and nobodys changing their minds. Theres nothing mroe to say now only 1 thing to do. Wait for the fight.
this one is a good article not like manuel perez who hates pacman, good job sam
Oscar is 5’10″ Pacman overcome the height differences by DESTROYING the Poster boy ODLH, now he will take on the much smaller in height!but again the much bigger(cholesterol wise) Ricky Hatton on May 2, which in the end will turn out to be another of those PACQUIAO’s victim. FACT….
The fans specially SCOTT and Manuel Perez won’t have to swallow anymore of Floyd Sr.’s metrical babbling, because they will be regurgitating their own refrain…….”Manny is the best P4P”. They might even throw in a couple of “Freddie Roach is the best Coach”, as they watch the little Choir Boy waltz off doing the La Cucaracha, while carrying his huge trophy!
The ethereal Manny will not be there, but instead will be a stormy destructive force (stellar wind), moving, whirling and striking out like a little tornado. He will be breathing a blurry fusillade of straight lefts, right hooks and jabs. Ricky will abort his attack, and wonder whether he’s caught up in some perverted kind of throw back in English history. Is this Manny the Conqueror, the royal duke who has come to pull off yet another major turning point in pugilistic history? Manny will be turning alright, with numerous and quick pivots that will make the boxing world once again sit up and take notice. Floyd, Sr. will be saying Manny has nullified, defeated, and destroyed The Hitman, but it’s not my fault!
Scott your the one of the most dumb guy I have ever know even though I havent seen or meet u yet but with your comments and in denial ideas reflects the personality that you have. You can never ever and must not compare Paulie D grade boxer to an S class fighter like PACQUIAO, you can’t compare an EMPEROR to a simple Peasant that’s the simple logic to that.
All this crap about Pacman vs De La Hoya stats are nonsense,. People seem to forget Pacman wasn’t at his best either. He went straight up from 135 to 147lbs, 149lbs by fightnight. Pacman was slower than his usuall self with that extra luggage he never carried before, yet he still won. So the arguement goes both ways, De La hoya may not have been his best but neither was Pacman.
The point I wanted to make with this article is, #1. Hatton is capable of winning the fight regardless of what some other writers and websites say. Also, #2. This match-up between Pacquiao and Hatton is far better than Hatton-Malignaggi or Pacquiao-DLH (styles make fights and these styles were made for each other) provided Hatton doesn’t do what Roach predicted and revert back to a slugfest the minute he gets hit with his first punch. And I think that is what most people are expecting to happen which is why the fight is not expected to go the distance. Either way it will be a more entertaining fight to watch than either 2 I mentioned or anything PBF has been in.
Im also well aware people will argue with the DeLa Hoya comment, but Roach himself said on HBO 24/7 show that he could see that Oscar had been on IV drips to rehydrate him in the dressing room and told Pac to jump on him.
So say what you will, Roach knew, everybody watching knew and thats why it was such a walkover.
I think that pacman is going to force hatton to go back to his old style which will then lead to another ko the way mayweather did him.
i agree with scott, thats the same thing i was thinkin, only time will tell, but for me, get your money on hatton to stop pac-man in the later round imo
I think the betting should be even