I have a lot of respect for Manny Pac, he is a truly brilliant fighter who's rarely in a dull fight. However people just expecting him to walk over hatton have got this one wrong I feel. We have yet to see Pac prove himself against the light-welterweights and welterweights out there who can actually move! one's with a bit of speed and footwork to go with their increased strength! David Diaz was never that good at lightweight. His claim to fame was a win over an old, war-torn Erik Morales. Outside of that he was a fringe contender, not noted for being quick on his feet or a big puncher. Manny Pac beat him up, but I'd expect Juan Urango, Junior Witter, Timothy Bradley and Ricardo Torres. I'd pick Juan Guzman and Nate Campbell over David Diaz in a heartbeat. Ricky Hatton would savagely murder him a lightweight like Diaz, infact anything less than a beatdown would be viewed as a failure for Hatton, like the Lazcano fight was. De La Hoya looked to me like he was shot to pieces within about 60 seconds of his fight agaisnt Pacman. I know a lot of people picked him before the fight, and I don't wanna take too much away from Pac, but oscar was absolutely terrible! Every bit as shot and battered as Mike Tyson looked against Lennox Lewis. **** even Roberto Duran did more against William Joppy than Oscar managed that night! Don't get carried away just yet. Tough featherweights who can take Manny's assaults and put HIM under pressure have managed to beat him in the past. Marquez has shown us this, that if you're tough enough to take his power and offensive, it is possible to turn the tables on him and win rounds off him. Ricky Hatton is a very strong opponent. He isn't polished, but he's quick of hand and foot, capable of matching Pac's footwork and closing him down quickly, putting him on the back foot. Most of the guy's Ricky fights have huge height and reach advantages, but this time he's fighting a guy who's more or less the same size as him, which will also suit him. Hatton has a good chin and is tough as anyone, so Pac shouldn't expect it to be easy like Mayweather's fight was. Manny pac is NOT Floyd Mayweather. Floyd can fight inside, outside, offensive, counter-punching, everything. Pac doesn't have that skill-set mayweather has. And whereas Floyd dealt with Hatton's style easily, I think Hatton's marauding style, along with his size, could cause Pacman big problems.
as long as he can employ the best clinging tactic and never allow the "come-from-nowhere" and solid straight left of pac to come in, i give him the very best chance. I hope he'll start training now.
if Hatton is allowed to jump in and clinch without throwing punches, Pacquiao will have a hard time getting his shots off on target and Hatton will be able to use his size to wear him out. If not, then Hatton will have to be more careful about when he lunges in, and Pacquiao will hit him and move out of the way so quickly Hatton won't know what happened. It'll be interesting to see who is picked as the ref, and how the ref does his job on fight night. In my eyes there is a difference between hitting and then holding, which IMO is tolerable, and holding and then hitting, which IMO is not tolerable. On a side note, Mayweather had a great tactic against Hatton's lunges and that was jamming his elbow in Hatton's neck and face. It clearly bothered Hatton. I wonder if Pac will do the same. Or I wonder if he will be fast enough to move out of the way before HAtton closes the distance. In the early rounds, that will be a hard thing to do. But if Pac can make Hatton expend alot of energy then he will slow down as the fight goes on. Will he be able to bother Hatton enough to tire him out? and will Pacquiao's stamina be as good at 140 as it was when he was in the lower weights? His stamina has not been tested since he fought 130 (which wasn't that long ago but I thought in the Marquez rematch it already was not what it used to be) Alot of questions to be answered. I'm confident Pac is good enough to ace the test
Valid point, and this is not a for gone conclusion that Pacman will destroy Hatton. I do give Pacman the edge but only a slight one at 140 pounds. If Hatton wins I wont be shocked.
