Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton – The Aftermath
Here are our group thoughts on last week’s Pac vs. Hatton battle on Pay-Per-View. Sorry to everybody for the delay but we’ve all been terribly busy.
GG
GG already gave his thoughts shortly after the fight in his column earlier in the week.
Duan:
It wasn’t quite the Hagler – Hearns war that some people expected. It more closely resembled Hearns vs. Duran – A brutal two round beat down – but sometimes that’s just the way boxing is.
Firstly, you have to give the credit where it is due. Manny Pacquiao fought a terrific fight. He carried out his game plan to perfection. His positioning was perfect all night, and he was able to make Hatton pay for his ill timed lunges. His speed was devastating, and he also showed that the power is still there at this weight. And I will be shocked if he isn’t awarded with knockout of the year for his efforts last Saturday.
At the same time, you have to look at this from a realistic perspective. Hatton didn’t perform on the night. I don’t know whether the game plan put together by his team was wrong, or if he just disregarded it come fight time, but Ricky Hatton fought a strategically poor fight. All his movements were telegraphed. He was reckless and easy to hit. He didn’t adapt to fighting a southpaw, and he was walking into shots blind as a result.
This is not to say Pacquiao wasn’t phenomenal. It’s just to say that this performance was probably a little flattering. I think some people are reading too much into this. I’m a huge fan of Pacquiao, but he hasn’t become unbeatable over night. My feeling is still that a boxer as slick as Mayweather will just have too many tools for him to deal with, but we will just have to wait and see.
Brotherman:
So THAT’S why you dont stand in front of Manny Pacquiao!
Fight fans: Dont deny it. This wasn’t somebody scared out of his wits. This wasnt a shot fighter he was fighting. This wasnt a bum he just destroyed. This was, at his prime, the best junior welterweight of era. A superb, skilled fighter, a fighter stronger than pacquiao, who never came within the ballpark of defeat at 140. And Manny destroyed him.
Dont deny this. Dont twist yourself into knots trying to discount Hatton tonight. Dont try to tell me anything other than how Manny just put on one of the most impressive big-fight performances in recent memory.
Big D:
What more can be said?
I don’t know of any sports writers or boxing enthusiasts who expected young Emmanuel Pacquiao to dismantle young Richard Hatton in under six minutes. But it happened. While most of us here on the site as well as other places fully expected Hatton to lose, if you’d made the bold statement that Hatton would lose under six minutes, I would advise you to not bet the house on it. Manny Pacquiao’s blinding hand speed and power brought me back to the days of Sugar Ray Leonard’s prime, except Pac may actually be faster. I was in legitimate shock as Pac schooled the very experienced Hatton as if he were an amateur having his first fight in a raggety gym until he caught him with a sharp left to the jaw and Hatton was in dream world. I hadn’t seen a knock-out like that in a big big main event since the Tyson era. 25,000 Europeans came to Vegas to watch they’re boy get schooled – what a buzzkill huh?
So who wins between Pac and Mayweather? We’ll talk about it when we get there.
What are you really a fan of manny? and why are you in the side of mayweather?.. mayweather surely can’t knock manny down (if he hit one he could have a chance, but that could only “if he hit”).. he’s a defensive fighter.. even if he uses his great defense it won’t help if he fights Manny Pacquiao he won’t even see his punches comin’.. he can’t block his entire face and body at the same time… and for the record what happened when he fight de la hoya and hatton compared to what Manny did to them? many people would say don’t compare the fight he had to them!. but JUST LOOK AND WATCH THOSE FIGHT ALL OVER AGAIN… MAYWEATHER JUST NEEDED SOME CASH SO HE WANTS TO FIGHT MANNY.. but on the other hand, CAN HE BEAT JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ IN JULY?? (My opinion: NO!) MARQUEZ WILL WHOOP HIS ASS DOWN AND GET HIS FIRST LOSS… But Manny will stil be the p4p until he is on the business…
What about hatton??
Did you fogot to bring a pillow?
You look all comfy down the mat last saturday…
What a shame going back to Manchester without the pride and confidence when he went to U.S
Hahaha. I love this comment.
We just have to see what happens. I think we’ll see what kind of Mayweather we will expect in July.
Good comment – keep coming back and reading! We’ll have coverage of THAT fight when it happens too.
for me, it’s not ricky hatton’s fault to loose to pacman, everything should be blame to his coach, who come’s late in the training, and who talk too much….. the gameplan for hatton of course was dictated by the coach with the big mouth but no brain. now, he is pushing for his son for the nect fight for pacman, let’s see…..
Well, Hatton did have to get in the ring and fight.
I think Mayweather’s strategy was the right one, and it looked like Hatton didn’t really follow it. It also looks like Mayweather has pretty much washed his hands with Ricky which is too bad. Not a very classy move to leave his fighter like that.
watawat, you make an interesting point.
There were reports in the UK that Mayweather didn’t show up till very late on the last day of sparing and missed much of the workout. It was also said that on the night of the fight, he didnt arrive until Ricky was getting his hands wrapped. There really is no excuse for that. In my opinion, its part of the coaches job to get his fighter in the right mind set before he goes out there, and also to be there to support him. I think Floyd neglected those tasks.
I think that’s part of the problem with that type of arrangement where there is no real bond between the fighter and the trainer. I have no doubt that the reported tension in camp didnt help Hatton’s preparation, and i certainly think Mayweather could have made more of an effort by simply being there early to go over the plans again and make sure Ricky knew what he had to do.
At the same time, I believe Hatton himself chose how he was going to fight on the night. Perhaps he let the nerves get to him on the big night and just went out and fought with emotion. I don’t believe that was a Floyd Mayweather gameplan he was acting out. Floyd is a defensive coach and i’m sure he didnt tell Hatton to charge forward with his hands low.
so, I wouldn’t blame Floyd from a strategic perspective, but he may be in some way responsible for his fighter being unsettled going into the fight.
MaC,
The Marquez brothers are 2 of my favourite fighters. I would love to see him win, but i just don’t like this match up for him at all.
While Pacquiao has moved up in weight effortlessly, I don’t think the same will be true for Juan Manuel. I believe he is definitely suited to fighting at a lighter weight. He’s at a stage in his career now where i don’t think he should be making huge leaps up in weight, but that’s what he has to do to get the big fights.
There has been a lot of confusion over what the actual agreed upon weight is for the fight. Some people say its at a 143-144 catch weight and others say its at 147. Regardless of what it is, it is way above his best fighting weight. Floyd wants this fight at a higher weight, not so much because its a good weight for him, but because its a bad weight for Marquez. Floyd picked this fight because he thinks its a good match up for him. If Mayweather is at his best, he will probably be a bit too quick and a bit to strong at the weight.
However, often in boxing when a fighter has a lengthy lay off, they don’t come back quite the same fighter. Each time Sugar Ray Leonard came out of retirement his skills had faded a little bit more. Perhaps Floyd won’t be the same guy he was when he left and if thats the case he has a very tough nights work a head of him. Marquez has the heart of a lion, and will be at his best. Floyd will need to bring his A game to, if he wants to get a win and move on to fight with pacman.
These are both great fighters,but only one guy can win. We will just have to wait and see. Be sure to come back during the build up to the fight, and let us know your thoughts on the fight.
You know Duan, you make a great point about Mayweather. But that’s what happens when you go out and seek a trainer who you have no experience at all with. Mayweather was a hired gun whose job was to help Hatton with his defensive skills. But everyone knows who he is before signing him. We had an entire show devoted to him with the first 24/7. This was no surprise.