By Mark Vester
With less than a month to the May 2 clash with Manny Pacquiao, the once-beaten Ricky Hatton is only ten-pounds above the junior welterweight limit and doesn't plan to make the same mistake as his promoter and close friend Oscar De La Hoya. Last year, De La Hoya drained himself to get down to the agreed upon weight of 147 for the December fight with Pacquiao. Over the last few years, De La Hoya had been fighting at junior middleweight and middleweight - but he was down to 145 a few weeks before the fight with Manny. De La Hoya was so drained that his body barely rehydrated from the weigh-in, and 24 hours later, when he stepped in the ring to fight, he only put on two pounds - going from 145 to 147 - while Pacquiao, the much smaller man, went from 142 to 148.5.
Hatton usually blows up between fights, walking around as big as a middleweight and living it up. He watched the mistake that De La Hoya made with his weight, and because of that Hatton has been extra careful by slowly getting down in weight to properly rehydrate by fight night.
"There is no chance I'm over-training. I feel very good, very relaxed and where I wanted to be at this point. I'm 10 pounds over the limit at the minute, and my diet is fantastic. You need that because there is nothing worse than doing a gruelling training session, and sparring, and then having to watch what you put in your mouth afterwards," Hatton told The Telegraph.
"De La Hoya was a prime example of losing too much weight too early. Oscar is a great friend of mine, but he made mistakes before that fight. What Oscar did makes me more determined not to make the same mistake. I'm 140lbs when I step on the scales and within hours I'm back to 148/149 lbs."
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