Emmanuel Stewart: Hatton Is Too Strong For Pacquiao

EMANUEL STEWARD

The general public has a different opinion of Pacquiao's fight with Oscar than some people in the industry. The public thinks Manny is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and didn't give as much value to Oscar's weight problem. On the street, people you meet say there is nobody who can beat Pacquiao.

I put a lot of value on it (Oscar's weight problem). In Pacquiao's last two fights against bigger guys, he looked great. But David Diaz is the slowest man I have ever seen in my life, and Oscar was ridiculously unhealthy. If Oscar had trained the way he normally does and then he lost, I'd say okay, that shows Pacquiao can beat bigger guys. You can't fault Pacquiao for winning, but we have created him a lot bigger than some people think he is. Look at Pacquiao's last two fights with Marquez. In each instance, if you take away one of the (Pacquiao) knockdowns, Pacquiao loses. (Actually, Marquez would have won the first fight, and the second would have been a draw)

Ricky is a fast, strong fighter. Size does make a difference. That's why we have all these different weight divisions. Ricky is naturally strong at 140, and Pacquiao is a good 135-pound fighter. Mayweather may well be the best defensive trainer in history, and what he is teaching could make it more difficult for Pacquiao.

I see the fight as a close one, nip and tuck all the way. If I was a betting man, I'd have to give a slight edge to Ricky. Ricky is just a bigger guy. Manny is a tremendous puncher, but we don't know what effect his punch will have against a 140 pound boxer.

In Ricky's fight with Floyd (Mayweather Jr.), Ricky got aggravated at the ref and was not focused. Floyd took advantage of that. You saw a much more controlled Ricky Hatton for his last fight with Malignaggi.

People talk about Pacquiao's speed, but Ricky's speed is going to surprise you. He has pretty good hand speed and footwork. At some point in the fight Ricky is going to start muscling him, and that could be a problem for Pacquiao. Manny likes to move in and slash and move out, and it will be more difficult to do that with Hatton than he thinks.

The crowd for this fight will be unbelievable. We're going to see an international explosion of emotions. I'm very excited. It's going to be a genuine 'big fight.' You have the entire European world market, as well as the Asian. You have two guys who are great for boxing. Pacquiao loves to be in the limelight and share his time and money with people. Ricky is the same kind of guy. These are fighters people can relate to. We are blessed to have them.


From HBO

[url]http://www.hbo.com/boxing/events/2009/0502_pacquiao_hatton/columns/analysts_breakdown.html[/url]

 

If Pacquiao wins:

"This fight went exactly as I expected."

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl

 

Emmanuel Stewart:

"Kelly Pavlik has great defense".....


nuff said

 

hahahahaha yeah you know thats exactly what he's gonna say too.

Although I have never seen him come out and be this onesided for a guy who is the consensus underdog before. Normally he's the king of hedging his bets.

 

I can't disagree.. It the same out look I have on the fight. too many people put too much stock in Pac win against weaken Oscar and slow Diaz who by the was knocked flat by kindal Holt, Im not saying Pac can't win, its just going to be a lot harder for him to win then many people think.

 

Obviously this coverage is sky, and it's heavily in favour of their boy Ricky, but it was interesting to see Lee Beard talk about some of the rumours of discontent in the Hatton camp. **** knows how that ended up on the bbc.co.uk front page, when it was probably someone tied into Roach's camp that was the source for the story.

Emmanuel Stewart's right too, Hatton is a phenomenally intense fighter and one of the strongest 140lbs champions in recent history. He's undefeated at the weight and feeling confident in camp. This fight will be a much harder test for Pac than the De La Hoya fight, because for the first time since he started moving up in weight he's fighting someone who can match him in intensity. De La Hoya and Diaz may have been bigger than him, but they were slow and passive in their fights. Hatton will be anything but passive tonight. Pac will be facing someone naturally stronger than him, but Hatton is aggressive and quick enough to make that advantage in size worth something.

Pac's handspeed will win him the early rounds, but if it goes much beyond five I think Hatton's strength may start to come into it and the balance begin to swing in Hatton's favour. Will definitely be a good fight

 

''I knew you were going to say that. This thread is going exactly as I expected''

 

I think this is probably right on the money. The old adage that "a good big man beats a good little man" may very well tell the tale of this fight.

 

Stewart is what, in his late 60's.
His brain is done.
Why should we take his opinion/prediction serious? :verysad.

 

My problem with the "if you take away the knockdowns, fighter X would have beat fighter Y" ideology is, this is professional boxing, knockdowns HAVE to count for something. Might as well put the headgear back on if knockdowns aren't going to be taken into consideration.



And who wants to wager that if Pacquiao does win, Stewart will STILL say "the fight went exactly as I expected?" I actually like Steward a lot and appreciate his insight on boxing, but I do find it amusing that he always seems hesitant to make a clear prediction on a lot of fights beforehand, but as soon as they end he's quick to tell everyone he knew it would happen that way. If that''s the case, why not make a bold prediciton before the fight? Not angry at the dude, just busting balls a bit.

 

Emmanuel on Margarito against Cotto:

"Alot of people underestimate Margaritos defense which is very good the way he covers his body with his arms."

Emmanuel on Margarito against Mosley when the Massacre started in the last two rounds"

"Margarito has never been known for his defense. Right now he has no defense whatsoever."

Then when someone is on the verge of being stopped:

"this fight is going exactly as i thought it would."

 

Is Steward going to complain again about heavyweights who fight tall behind a jab and clinch to avoid exchanges? :roll: I nearly shot coffee out my nose the first time I heard him do that rant.

 

Oh no he didn't