By Sean McDaniel: Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) has a great deal riding on tonight’s bout with Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs), more than just bragging rights or Hatton’s little known IBO light welterweight title. What makes this fight so particularly important is that if Hatton can beat Pacquiao tonight at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Ricky stands a good chance of getting a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., the only fighter ever to beat Hatton.
This would be a fight that would mean more than just another huge payday for Hatton, although it would likely pay even better than tonight’s Hatton-Pacquiao bout, but it would mean a lot to Hatton to be able to get revenge for his 10th round TKO loss to Mayweather in 2007.
The loss has bothered Hatton ever since that time, and he’s badly wanted a rematch with Mayweather but has never had a chance. That could change if things work out right for Hatton against Pacquiao. That’s a big ‘if’ because Hatton is the underdog against Pacquiao, and many people are expecting for Manny win by a knockout.
It’s Hatton’s job to try and prove them wrong somehow, but for him to do that, he’s going to have to fight the perfect fight against Pacquiao. Hatton has received all kinds of advice in the past couple of months from all corners of the globe, many of them telling Hatton to try and use his boxing skills to box Pacquiao, while others want him to rush Pacquiao and try to take the Filipino star out with big punches.
Hatton has been pretty open with what he intends to do, saying that he’ll box more, use his lab and move his head a lot. However, I don’t know that this will be enough to beat a fighter as good as Pacquiao. That sounds a lot like what Marco Antonio Barrera attempted to do in his 2nd fight with in 2007, one in which Barrera lost badly but was spared by Pacquiao, who seemed to let Barrera get through the fight without trying to take him out.
However, Pacquiao easily controlled the entire fight with his in and out attacks and looked to have won every round of the fight. This is the same kind of fight style that Bernard Hopkins advised for Hatton to use on Pacquiao, and frankly, I think its dead wrong for Hatton. He doesn’t need to box Pacquiao, because that won’t work and Hatton will just find himself losing rounds because he won’t be able to land as many punches as the faster Pacquiao.
Instead, Hatton is going to need to try and attack Pacquiao hard, get him going backwards and keep him on the run. In watching many of Pacquiao’s fights, I’ve noticed that he doesn’t punch when he’s being attacked. Instead, Pacquiao often shuts down and tries to cover up and wait his turn to throw punches.
In Pacquiao’s loss to Erik Morales, Pacquiao found himself being backed up all around the ring and getting hit with a lot of shots. Morales basically stayed on top of Pacquiao, not letting him breath, and throwing continuous punches. It was a style that favored Morales and before long, Pacquiao’s left eye was badly cut and bleeding all over the place.
Pacquiao then continued to struggle as Morales kept pouring in punch after punch and not giving Pacquiao any rest being them. This is what Hatton needs to do against Pacquiao, because it’s a style that suits and it’s one that has a good chance of working for him.
If Hatton fights in a kind of passive style that Hopkins is hoping he will, I see Hatton losing by a lopsided decision. Hatton is not a boxer and if he thinks he’s going to beat a fighter as good as Pacquiao by boxing him, Hatton has a big surprise in store for him tonight.
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