By Mark Vester
Lee Beard, the assistant trainer for Ricky Hatton, was very impressed with the performance of Manny Pacquiao. He, along with head trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr, had a plan in place to overtake Pacquiao on May 2 in Las Vegas. The Filipino fighter exploded in the first round, sending Hatton down twice, and followed up the second by knocking Ricky out cold.
Speaking exclusively with BoxingScene.com, Beard spoke about their plan of attack and what went wrong.
“hear brilliance is how I'd describe Manny's performance. We never overlooked anything in Manny, from his speed to his punching power and knew this was a very difficult fight for Ricky but we never expected that to happen,” Beard said to BoxingScene.
“Manny was awesome on fight night. Ok, Ricky did fight carelessly and not how he should have, but you cant take anything away from what Manny has done. His speed, timing, combination punching and footwork overall was excellent and I think he has improved massively over the last 12 months.”
Beard said Pacquiao was much more dominant in the ring than Floyd Mayweather Jr, who stopped Hatton in ten round sin 2007.
“We knew how fast he was and he was a puncher but Manny was so strong mentally and refused to let Ricky get the upper hand. Even when Ricky tried to force his size on Manny, he would stand his ground and trade then use his speed to keep one step in front of Ricky. Nobody has done that to Ricky. What Manny did, even Floyd Jr. in the first 5 to 6 rounds had nightmares with Ricky and Ricky was fighting in the same way against Manny but was unable to get to him as he did with Floyd. Manny was very dominant,” Beard said.
As far as the rumors of a rift inside the team, Beard says there is nothing to talk about.
“No, there's no problem with Ricky me or Floyd [Mayweather Sr] and we were hoping things went our way but you also have to accept defeat. You win/lose in anything, especially if you take big chances like Ricky and Manny have done. They have both lost and both fought at the highest level and took chances. They both have the largest followings in boxing that is why this fight was as big as it was. They are both exiting fighters to watch and exactly what boxing needs,” Beard said.
Beard then spoke to us about the possible fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr.
Do I think Manny could beat Floyd Jr? I didn’t think Manny would beat Ricky but he did. I would favor Floyd but Manny could win. Anything can happen in boxing and Manny is at the top of his game right now, physically and mentally,” Beard said.
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