By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Trainer Freddie Roach says he is unconcerned over the supposed powerful body shots of Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton who his prized possession, Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao faces in a May 3 showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
In an interview with well-known reporter Dyan Castillejo of the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN, Roach said it was “no problem because Ricky Hatton won’t land one body punch. He will miss every shot.”
Roach revealed that he had watched tapes of 20 of Hatton’s previous fights and “studied them extensively and I know how to beat him.”
Pacquiao’s celebrated trainer said Hatton was “slow and made-to-order for Manny.”
Asked by Dyan about Hatton’s reputation to push his opponent, punch and grab Roach replied “if you won’t stand in front of him then he can’t push you.”
Roach was confident that Pacquiao who, in his eyes, “fought perfect fights against David Diaz and Oscar De La Hoya is even better now and I expect at least one more perfect fight.”
Roach predicted that Pacquiao would knock out Hatton “sooner than Floyd Mayweather Jr because Manny is better than Mayweather.” Mayweather scored a tenth round TKO over Hatton in Las Vegas on December 8, 2007.
In a hectic schedule prior to taking a flight to London on Thursday night for a two-stop promotional tour, Pacquiao signed another major endorsement with Vitwater, a product under the RFM Corporation of Joey Concepcion after which he visited his former business manager Rod Nazario at his Wild Card Gym in Sucat, Paranaque, in recognition of his help in steering Pacquiao’s career to new heights from the time he was a 16 year old boy.
Pacquiao was besieged by fans and autograph seekers among whom were Paranaque Vice Mayor Gus Tambunting.
Respected TV boxing analyst Moy Lainez said Pacquiao “looked in good shape and probably weighed around 150-152 pounds” and believed that eight weeks of relentless training at the Wild Card Gym of Roach which is typical of Pacquiao, it would enable him to beat Hatton.
Roach himself had earlier told Castillejo that eight weeks of training was enough even as he joked about Hatton saying “anyway he’ll be 180 pounds.” However, Hatton’s British trainer Lee Beard said that Hatton had begun training prior to going on a two week cruise with his family up to the middle of February and had immediately reported back to the gym in Ashton, just outside his hometown of Manchester and looked much better than he did prior to his previous fights where he had tended to bloat.
In fact Beard said Hatton had cut down on his penchant for lots of junk food and had also drastically reduced his intake of beer.
