Will Pacquiao Turn Hatton Into Another De La Hoya?

By Michael Lieberman: We are now only two days away from the huge mega clash between Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs and Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs), and it’s looking more and more like Pacquiao is going to wipe the canvas with the limited Hatton and turn him into his 37th knockout victim. For me, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Hatton’s going to lose the fight.

The only real suspense is whether Pacquiao will turn Hatton into another Oscar De La Hoya or not. That’s the intriguing part for me – can Pacquiao reduce Hatton to a cringing, passive lump of flesh, as he beats the British fighter from one side of the ring to another and possibly force him to quit just as Pacquiao did with De La Hoya.

Making a fighter quit is probably the worst thing you can inflict upon them, even worse them knocking them out. Hatton hasn’t quit yet, but I think there might be so quit in him that Pacquiao can fester out of him if he beats him as bad as I expect him to on Saturday night.

The trick is that Pacquiao must jump on Hatton early with his in and out attacks, springing sharply in punching range to quickly rearrange Hatton’s face, and then get away before Hatton has time to throw his trademark left hooks. With Hatton, you always know what he’s going to do because he only had one real weapon, his left hook, in his arsenal and depends on it to bail out of tough situations.

Getting Hatton to the point where he actually quits on his stool or pulls a ‘no mas’ may be easier for Pacquiao then some people might think. All that Pacquiao will need to do is punish Hatton to the body, an area that many of his opponents often forget.

Once Hatton starts getting hammered downstairs, he’ll tire out quickly, weakening like some older fighters often do when hit to the body, and then start looking for a way out of the bout. Pacquiao can then help him make his decision by then switching to hooks to the head and straight left hands down the middle.

I’d like to think that Hatton could take the punishment for 12-rounds, because, after all, I’d like to get my money’s worth and not see Pacquiao make Hatton quit like he did to De La Hoya in Pacquiao’s 8th round win in December 2008. But, I think Hatton, perhaps because of his yo-yo weight gaining and hard living, won’t be able to take the punishment and will eventually fold mentally under the strain and quit.

I’m wondering in what guise Hatton will retire? Sometimes fighters just flop down on the canvas and don’t get up. Although technically they didn’t quit, in truth they actually did. Unless Hatton outright quits either on his stool or standing up, I see him quitting by going down from an inconsequential punch to the head or midsection.

In that moment, I see Pacquiao achieving another De La Hoya type win at the expense of Hatton. I’d like to think that Hatton would go down swinging, getting dropped like a warrior and knocked completely out, but I just don’t see it happening like that, unfortunately.

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