By Ronnie Nathanielsz
During the official announcement for the May 2 clash between Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao, better known as the “Battle of East and West,” Hatton who is handled in the United States by Golden Boy Promotions, was given a boost by Oscar De La Hoya who said “I think Hatton will dethrone Pacquiao and become boxing’s pound-for-pound king.”
It was the same De La Hoya who was pulverized by Pacquiao and quit at the end of eight rounds last December 6 in a shockingly one-sided bout in Las Vegas.
Despite picking Hatton to win however, De La Hoya was full of praise for Pacquiao in a fight he believes will be a candidate for “Fight of the Year.” He was quoted by the Andover Advertiser as saying “when Manny Pacquiao goes into the ring he fights for his country, the Philippines and the tens of thousands of Filipinos worldwide.”
De La Hoya described Pacquiao as “a tremendous athlete and unlike any other champion we have ever promoted. When Manny walks into the ring he carries the weight of his country on his shoulders and he fights with all of his heart, every second of every round.”
At the press conference in Britain , BBC Sport reported that Hatton said “it will be an honor to meet Manny, the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.” Hatton said “I’m brimming full of confidence” adding “it doesn’t get better than this”
Hatton claimed “I’m the biggest attraction in boxing.”
The Briton’s only defeat was at the hands of then pound-for-pound No. 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr in December 2007 but Hatton said that this time around he will be better prepared especially since he will be fighting at the comfortable weight of 140 pounds instead at 147 when he battled Mayweather Jr.
He insisted there was nobody better in the world at light welterweight and said “with perseverance and hard work I believe I can become the best boxer in the world.”
Hatton told the media “I’ve challenged the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world once and came second. Now I’ve got another chance and I’m not going to let you down.”
BBC Sport reported that Hatton predicted the fight with Pacquiao will be a classic. “Its going to be a cracking fight. If I wasn’t fighting Pacquiao, I’d be a fan of his and Ricky Hatton’s fights are never dull.”
In an earlier conversation with insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, Hatton’s father, Ray Hatton, said he expects the bout to be “an absolutely super fight and anybody who likes their style and likes boxing, that’s what they are going to get. There is no way this fight will disappoint anybody. There’s not a chance for that.”
Ray Hatton said he expects Ricky to fight much better than in some of his recent fights pointing out that with Floyd Mayweather Sr, the fighter “went back to basics and Mayweather Sr got Ricky to do the things he used to do…moving his head and also moving his feet . In the last couple of years unfortunately he’s not been doing that.”
Hatton said you could imagine what it will do when Mayweather Sr “picks up where he left off doing the same sort of things again.”
In a statement released by Top Rank, Pacquiao said “I always like new challenges, which is the reason I am anxious to fight Ricky Hatton. My trainer, Freddie Roach, will put together a new game plan which will be much different than the one we used against Oscar. There are concerns because Hatton is a very strong puncher, so I must deal with that in the ring.”
