By Jordan Taylor: Manny Pacquiao is being talked about as the greatest fighter on the planet; and rightly so, maybe even an all time great. Pacquiao has had some outstanding wins of late, most notably his awesome KO stoppage of England’s Ricky Hatton and the 8 round mauling of the legendary Oscar de La Hoya. No-one can take away Manny’s record, it’s not padded, its impressively solid, and features victims such as Eric Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera.
Even without the marquee names and fights which gave him the name ‘The Mexecutioner’, he has had good wins over opposition like David Diaz and Jorge Solis. He is now truly in his peak, and after 22 fights with legendary trainer Freddy Roach, he looks to be on the final lap of his career, hopefully cumulating in a super fight with either Miguel Cotto or Floyd Mayweather.
Noises from his camp suggest he will fight in October and it may well be his last before he pursues his interest in politics or in making appalling folk music.
Pacquiao’s win over Hatton was extraordinary. Regardless of anyone’s views before the fight, Hatton was due to put up a fight. ‘East meets West’ was billed as a match up made in heaven. Yes we hear it every other month, much like the ‘Dream Match’ with De La Hoya, but this was genuinely anticipated by both the mainstream and the purists, the PPV figures confirm that.
Hatton was utterly humiliated on that dark night. Outclassed, outgunned, outdone in every department. The confidence before this fight from Pacman and Roach was supreme, and one did wonder if they knew something we did not. HBO’s superb 24/7 series showed both camps making noises about seeing flaws, but to the trained eye you could see Hatton’s camp was on the verge of carnage.
A scene showing an empty warehouse with Lee Beard and Hatton waiting for Mayweather Senior to turn up as he was waiting for his Onion Rings and Chili Burger would turn out to be a pivotal moment in the build up to this fight. You could even say the fight was won at that moment.
Roach declared from the start of the PR tour that his man would win in 6, Hatton would not change his style, and Manny would be too quick and powerful for the courageous but ultimately flawed Hatton. I do not believe for one minute that Roach expected it to be over that quick, but I am pretty sure he knew his man would expose the Englishman in such devastating fashion at some stage.
From what has been said post fight, it would seem Hatton and Mayweather had an altercation, one which would prove to be catastrophic for his team. Lee Beard had taken a dislike to his lateness and messy routines, and decided to train his man alongside Mayweather. Hatton entered the ring not having a good enough training camp.
The defense that had been installed in him from his trainer had been lost amongst the arguing and the absurd situation of having two mindsets approaching fight night. I would assume Hatton can be blamed for his carelessness and stupidity when not fighting with a guard up after being knocked down twice in minutes. Bernard Hopkins commented afterwards on ESPN that Hatton ‘had committed suicide’ within the first round.
Regardless of the points aired above and on forums, only one man can be accredited with spotting Hatton’s weakness. His name is Freddy Roach. He knew from day 1 what would happen in this fight, and to win it in such fashion is a credit to himself. The way he spoke of Ricky Hatton at the post fight press conference speaks volumes about his character and as a boxing trainer.
‘I like Ricky, he is a good, guy, I just don’t like his team too much. He is a 2-weight world champion, not too many people can say that. He’s a champion.’ Roach’s own ‘sparring session’ with Mayweather had been as enthralling as the fight. There was only one winning trainer that night. Much has been said of Hatton’s demise from the sport and where he should he go from here, but what about Mayweather?
He too was humiliated by his old foe. The Hatton and De La Hoya fights are almost identical in the fact that both were touted as being ‘too strong’ for the Philippino icon, but Roach was firm all along, he knew the flaws with both fighters. Oscars being his poor training camp/weight issues and the fact he was shot long before the fight, even though he beat Floyd Mayweather not so long ago in some people’s eyes.
Hatton’s was his failure to control his fighting style, appoint a defence, and most importantly the way he cocks his left hand back before he makes a hook. Genius. Again, the Oscar De La Hoya fight was so one sided it seemed the referee would be stopping it from the 4th round, such was Pacquiao’s difference in speed, movement and overall ringmanship, but that was not Oscar de La Hoya in that ring, it was a fighter who thought he still had it, dismissed Roach’s long term views that he was shot, and was promptly ejected from the sport with massive black mark on his impressive career.
I give full credit to many Pacquiao for his career, and especially his victories of late, he is by far the most exciting fighter on the planet, but there is a reason Freddy Roach has publicly stated he does not want his man to fight Mayweather, they want Cotto. I believe a lot of Pac’s victories can be credited to his trainer, as he states after every fight ‘I am just a fighter doing my job’.
The Mayweather fight would be a step too far, I think Roach is confident his man can beat Cotto, and then bring down the curtains on a great career, one where people remember him as a true great, but to the trained eye; Roach is the Man. In my eyes the greatest trainer in the world and a credit too the sport.
It will be interesting to see what he does with the talented but untested Amir Khan. Many people see the trainer and someone who merely nurture ‘born talent’, the same people say the trainer has no control over the fighter once he is in the ring. I believe Roach may even share that view, but without this man, I can pretty much guarantee Pacquiao would not be where h is today.
Comments are closed.