By Michael Payne: Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 Kos) is currently in training to take on the widely regarding pound 4 pound king of world boxing Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 Kos) on May 2nd at the MGM Grand. In doing so he hopes to take that title from him & be the first brit to lay claim to the fictitious title. But if he does pull of the win will he really be the best?
In recent years the pound for pound champion has been a big topic of discussion & although no one can say 100% who is best because it is based on your judgment & people will always have different opinions it has previously been easy to see one or two stand out names to take the title. There has been Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather and now Pacquiao. When all of them were at the top of the pile it was hard to make a big argument against them. I am a big fan of Ricky Hatton’s & believe if he does win against Pacquiao (which I believe he can if he keeps to the correct game plan) it will mean that it will be very unclear who this title would go to.
If Hatton does a convincing job of it against Pacquiao then he will lay claim to it as he has beat the best. In most situations this is how you win a title but not this one. I see that there are more versatile fighters around than Ricky & more talented boxers. Ricky has said he plans to have three more fights then retire (apparently Pacquiao, Marquez & Mayweather). If he goes on to win all of these it will be almost impossible to deny his claim for the title, but I am not sure I would give it him just for the Pacquiao win.
Here are a few others who may lay claim to it:
Manny Pacquiao – If the current king wins he consolidates his position. If he looses badly surely he is knocked off top spot. But what if he looses a split decision or it is a disputed win, could he claim to still be top?
Juan Manuel Marquez (50 – 4 – 1, 37 KOs) – he could lay claim to the title. He has been close to the top for a long time & after a hard fought loss to Pacquiao he has bounced back with good wins against Casamayor & Juan Diaz who are both top lightweights.
Bernard Hopkins (49 – 5 – 1, 32 Kos) – The executioner was considered by many the number one before he lost to Jermain Taylor but with his last win against Kelly Pavlik although Pavlik was out of his depth Hopkins has put himself back in the mix.
Shane Mosley (46 – 5, 39 Kos) – Has Sugar Shane put himself in the mix after dismantling Margarito?
Miguel Cotto (33 – 1, 27 Kos) – After his only loss coming to Margarito & speculation over whether there was any miss conduct on Margaritos part regarding his wraps, could Cotto go on to take over the mantle of Pound 4 Pound king?
I have not included everyone that could have a shout at this title & you may not agree with some of the names in the above list but like I said there isn’t a specific answer to this because we will all have our own opinion but I feel that if Hatton wins this fight it will make it very hard to pick a stand out pound 4 pound king & I don’t think he takes the title by right.
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