By Mark Vester
Brendon Smith, trainer of lightweight contender Michael Katsidis, contacted BoxingScene.com regarding recent comments that were published on the popular Aussie website Sports Nut , and later reported on this very site. Per the comments reported on Sports Nut , Smith predicted that Hatton would break Pacquiao down in a similiar fashion as he did to Kostya Tszyu several years ago.
"I think Ricky will be so powerful in close that Pac will not be able to do a lot of the things he showed against Oscar. Kostya Tszyu was a great, great champion like Manny and Ricky broke him down inside with strength and constant pressure. I see Manny suffering a similar loss. He is a walk-up fighter who will trade punches with Hatton. When Ricky suffered his only loss it was to a very scientific boxer in Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao is not that sort of boxer," Smith was quoted as saying by Sports Nut .
According to Smith, some of the comments that were printed did not come out of his mouth. Smith denies making some of the printed quotes. In fact, both Smith and Katsidis are 100% behind Pacquiao. He predicts a brutal fight for both.
"I would just like to make mention that myself and Michael are 100% behind Manny against Hatton! We wish him and Ricky a great fight. We have had the opportunity spend a lot of time in the Wild Card Gym with Freddie Roach, who was kind enough to allow us there to train and the hospitality we were given by Freddie and his team and fighters was second to none and is something I will never forget. I think the world of Freddie and Manny and admire them a lot. They are wonderful people," Smith told BoxingScene.
Smith does admit to being interviewed and making a spur of the moment prediction for Hatton, but tells BoxingScene that was the extent of the conversation.
"Yes I was asked in a phone interview who would win between Manny and Ricky and on the spur of the moment - I thought maybe Ricky, but that doesn't mean we won't be cheering for Manny and the more I think about this fight [the more I think] Manny can win. This is going to be a brutal fight for both and we hope both have a safe journey," Smith said.
"I would also like to say that I never spoke about Kostya or said that Oscar was 'dead weight' in his fight against Manny. These fighters are legends. Yes it has been no secret that we do wish to be able to fight Manny one day and at one stage we were close for this to happen. However, we do know [that] we need to win and win big in 2009 before this is even possible. Michael will have a great year and has gained a wealth of experience, as have I, and we will be giving it our best."
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