Manny Pacquiao Defense Improved since the Marquez 2? Defense against Hatton Pressure?

[S.G.]

it's virtually the saem - which will be too much for Hatton

[wmute]

It is improved a lot, but it is not very relevant for the Hatton fight IMO. What matters is Pac's inside game. With Hatton's fast feet it is not a matter of IF the fight will get dirty and up close, it's a matter of HOW MUCH of it is going to be dirty and up close.

Mayweather is the best fighter I remember at keeping the fight where he wants (not the best, before people jump up, but the best at this) and he *had to* fight Hatton at close quarters too. A lot. He won the fight because his game (defense included) was excellent on the inside too. He boxed him, tired the hell out of him on the inside with some vicious bodyshots punctuating everything with an occasional hard right lead or left hook, and only then started throwing combos.

I have never seen pac fight on the inside, I am sure Freddie will work on that, but I am not sure how much can be done on someone who never fought much on the inside. Pac is a fast learner though. Pac will also have problems because we have seen Hatton manhandle everyone at 140 while clinching.

This fight will be interesting, Pac cannot fight "negative" like Mayweather, so we will see Hatton throwing many punches.

EDIT: obviously Pac causes Hatton a huge number of problems too, but this thread is about the other way round so I focused on that for now

[!! Shawn]

Where is the option for His defense is the same but he will wreck Hatton anyways?

[Pullcounter]

how do we know his defense has improved he hasnt fought anyone since jmm2...diaz is a bum and oscar is shot..the hatton fight will tell us alot

defense wont matter against hatton because hatton will wrestle him.

[billionaire]

its pretty much the same.......he is harder to hit than it seems.....the only chance hatton has is by wrestling and banging to the body constantly

[Fights]

Yea, he won so easily in his last fights we don't know 4 sho. Pac has shown his defense can be good if he feels the need to use it tho. Against Hatton, he's got the edge in boxing skill, but I'm sure this fight will be war and his defense won't matter. Chin and stamina will decide this fight.

Defense matter.

[Fights]

More importantly though since that fight is he's strategy for each fight has been different. He was more defensively cautious in his DLH bout as supposed to his Tazmanian Devil style from the Marquez bout. It creates the illusion of a completely different fighter. I think he learned quite a bit from being wary of the larger DLH which he will take into future bouts.

I wonder what defensive strategy he'll bring during the Hatton fight.

[Fights]

It improved a lot, but it is not very relevant for the Hatton fight IMO. What matters is Pac's inside game.

It's all inside game and no other boxing skill needed eh?

[The Noose]

I think its just about 2 main questions...

Can Hatton survive on the outside?
Can Manny survive on the inside?


Hatton cant afford to take too much coming in, and Manny cant afford to get trapped on the ropes.
I think Manny is better at moving away from the ropes, than Hatton is at avoiding being picked off at range.

JMM and Hatton throw such different punches. Manny's defence improving or not has nothing to do with fight. Hattons style and pressure are new to him.

[Silencers]

It's hard to say with his recent fights but his footwork has improved, the Hatton fight could tell us if his defense has improved, his defense wasn't that bad anyways against Marquez, Marquez was just a great counterpuncher and had great timing, he would always make Pacquiao look bad.