By Ali Tinsley: I’ll start this one off by saying I am a fan of both fighters, both are aggressive and always put on a great boxing spectacle. Pacman is the current pound for pound king and is basically guaranteed big money fights for the rest of his career. Hatton is one of the biggest draws in boxing today and is looking to get two massive fights in 2009 and retire, having one with Pacman and then trying to lure Mayweather out of retirement.
But if Hatton wants to get Mayweather after Pacman, then surely he will have to win his upcoming fight against Pacman, May 2nd 2009 at the MGM Grand. This, lets face it, is not an easy task! Almost every article I have read has either said a Pacman decision win or a Pacman knockout win, with next to no sports writer giving Ricky Hatton a chance. This leaves me thinking why?
Hatton has only ever lost one fight, to then pound for pound king, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Hatton then had a fight with Lazcano, which he won despite looking a little “rusty”. He then changed trainer which, for the most, was slated by sports writers saying it was too late and you can’t teach a dog new tricks etc. However, Hatton went on to fight Malignaggi whom he stopped in the 11th (Something nobody had done before including Cotto although yes it probably should have been stopped!!)
Pacman has the victory over De La Hoya, which for Pacman was awesome and I give him full credit for beating the guy in front of him, however, De La Hoya looked a shadow of his former self. Then we have the victories of Marquez, the one which resulted in a draw should have been Pacman’s, the first round being 10-6 but scored 10-7 by the drawing judge. The other was super close, I actually scored it in favour of Marquez, but it could have gone either way.
Pacman now faces Hatton at Hatton’s natural fight weight, the division that Hatton dominates. Pacman is fighting above his natural fight weight. Yes he went up against De La Hoya, but Oscar looked awful coming down to Welterweight. I think this will be one advantage to Hatton.
Hatton’s chin is solid too, meaning he should be able to take some of Manny P’s shots as he moves to his favoured inside fighting. But Pacman’s speed could counter this by staying on the outside picking Hatton off as he try’s to move in, perhaps even cutting Hatton. But Hatton is no slouch himself, yes he may be a bulldozer, but he’s a Porsche Bulldozer.
I’m hoping the Ref is going to let the fighters fight and work on the inside; Manny and Ricky are two of the best aggressive fighters from both the outside and the inside. I’d give Manny the edge fighting from range, but Ricky the edge fighting in close. If Ricky can cut off the ring, work his way up close to Manny and neutralize his movement and speed, Hatton has a great chance of landing some scoring shots. If Manny can keep his range, he should be able to utilise his quick movements and fast hands to pick off Hatton.
This fight is far closer than anyone gives it credit, people have written off Hatton before the fight has taken place. I for one am giving him a good chance to win this fight. I still think Pacman will most likely be the winner, but I am not writing off Ricky at all.
Alistair’s Prediction – Pacman Decision (But wouldn’t rule out anything!!!!)
Comments are closed.