Hatton and Pacquiao Negotiations Progressing: De La Hoya An Option For Ricky

By Boxing News - 12/19/2008 - Comments

hatton46433344By Scott Gilfoid: In the latest boxing news, Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) and Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) moved closer to their May 2nd bout in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the negotiations are reportedly set to be completed by the end of the year. According to Hatton’s promoter, Richard Schaefer, “it looks like we’ll have something wrapped up by the end of the year.”

This is good news for boxing, because both fighters took place in one-sided fights in the past year that both disappointed fans because of the lack of competitive nature of the fights. If things don’t work out with coming to terms with Pacquiao, Ricky’s father, Ray Hatton, has said that they’ll move forward to another alternative, saying “I hear that Oscar (de la Hoya) could still be open for a fight here in England.”

In the end, that might be the wiser move for Hatton, because he doesn’t seem to match-up well with the quicker, harder punching Pacquiao, and I can see him suffering another embarrassing knockout loss. At least in facing De La Hoya, the diminutive Hatton, 30, would have an excellent chance at beating him, especially if De La Hoya fights the same as he did against Pacquiao on December 6th.

In that fight, De La Hoya looked close to 100, getting beaten in every round like a rag doll and never for a moment giving Pacquiao any kind of resistance. A fight against De La Hoya probably wouldn’t make as much money, obviously, but it would give Hatton a good payday, and he could then move forward to a fight with Pacquiao for a second mega fight, and, of course, lose badly.

It’s a difficult situation for Hatton. He can take the big money in a fight with Pacquiao, and likely lose in a terrific fashion, or he can take slightly less in a winnable fight against De La Hoya. For me, it seems like an easy decision. You take De La Hoya, put him out of his misery, then move onto the fight with Pacquiao and get a good payday and take your beating like a man.

Rest assured, Hatton doesn’t stand a chance against Pacquiao and will take an even worse beating than he did against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December 2007. In that fight, Hatton was beaten like a drum from start to finish, bounced around the ring, penalized for fouls and ultimately taken out in the 10th round by Mayweather.

The loss has stuck to Hatton’s craw for all this time, but there hasn’t been much that he can do about it. Losing to Pacquiao probably won’t help, either. If Hatton’s smart, he’ll see that he doesn’t have the ability to beat Pacquiao, and will take the easy money to beat up a washed up De La Hoya, and then move onto to yet another defeat. In the end of the day, it’s the wisest move if Hatton wants to still get a shot at De La Hoya before he rides out of the sunset.



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