By Mark Vester

Ricky Hatton is not siding with his promoter Oscar De La Hoya. He wants Manny Pacquiao to beat De La Hoya on December 6 in Las Vegas. Hatton will be sitting ringside at the MGM Grand as the winner of De La Hoya-Pacquiao will be his next likely opponent. Hatton would rather fight Pacquiao because the Filipino fighter is considered as the number one pound for pound fighter in the sport.

"The winner or the loser next is a great fight, but I would like it to be the winner," Hatton told The Times . "I would like it to be Pacquiao because he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. If Manny beats Oscar I might get my dream of becoming the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. If Oscar beats Pacquiao because Manny is moving up does he lose his pound for pound title? Maybe he shouldn’t really because Oscar is so much bigger."

Because De La Hoya had drained his body down to 145-pounds, Hatton says the fight could get rough for Oscar if he doesn't stop Manny in the early rounds.

"If Oscar doesn’t knock Manny out in the early rounds it could get interesting because it is late on it affects you if you’re weight drained," Hatton said. "It would be nice for me to see if Oscar dwindles because it would fill me with confidence even though we would fight at welterweight."

Whether it's Oscar or Manny, Hatton told the paper that he won't let either of them dictate the terms of their fight. If he doesn't like what he hears, he will fight one of the other champions at junior welterweight.

"I’m in a position where I am the number one light-welterweight in the world and I have pulling power. Despite the credit crunch look how many fans came to Las Vegas for Malignaggi and we’d had me, Joe [Calzaghe] and David [Haye] fighting in the space of three weeks. When the negotiations come I am in a wonderful position. I like to think that I’m in a position where I can say to Manny or Oscar, if terms aren’t right I’ll f*** off home and fight in front of 100,000," Hatton said.

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