By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The grandiose christening of his daughter Queen Elizabeth over and done with, Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao kept in shape on Monday playing basketball in his hometown of General Santos City prior to undertaking a medical mission in Glan, North Cotabato on Tuesday as part of his commitment to help the poor.
Pacquiao friend and confidant Rex “Wakee” Salud, one of the 32 godfathers of “Queenie”-the second daughter of four children of Pacquiao and wife Jinkee, said the world’s No.1 pound-for-pound fighter had pushed back his departure for February 26 and was hoping he could obtain a visa to fly directly from Manila to London instead of having to fly via Los Angeles.
While Pacquiao was fulfilling his family obligations and his charitable work, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton was in the gym in Ashton just outside Manchester continuing his preparation which he began last week, for his showdown with Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2.
Hatton’s British trainer Lee Beard said the battle with Pacquiao was “a massive fight” for Hatton and he was taking his training very seriously after returning from a Caribbean cruise with his family including 30 year old girlfriend Jennifer Dooley. Hatton proposed to Jennifer on Valentine’s Day and sealed the engagement with a large diamond ring.
Pacquiao too gifted wife Jinkee with a huge diamond ring and earrings while training for a fight at the gym of Salud in Cebu City last year.
Although she is always at ringside at Hatton’s fights the pretty Jennifer said she feels “sick in the stomach” when Ricky gets into the ring
Both fighters are expected to step up training after the promotional tour stops in Hatton’s hometown of Manchester City and London with Pacquiao likely to report to Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym on March 3.
The Manchester promotional stop will be at the Trafford Center at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 28. They will then get together for a press conference in Central London with the venue most likely to be the Imperial War Museum which would be considered somewhat appropriate as both men prepare to wage war in a ring at the MGM Grand.
Pacquiao and Hatton who will be accompanied by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and trainers Roach and Floyd Mayweather Sr in the promotional stops, have much in common. One of the most obvious is that both fighters have a fine working relationship and a great respect for their trainers although Roach has worked with Pacquiao since his conquest of Lelohonolo Ledwaba to win the WBC super bantamweight title in June 2001 while Mayweather worked with Hatton and developed great chemistry only during the Paul Malignaggi fight last year.
Pacquiao’s training camp will last some nine weeks while Hatton’s will be his longest ever – a total of eleven weeks, five in Manchester and six in Las Vegas .
