Pacquiao versus Hatton, Cherry-pick or Not?

so do you think they would not have accepted this fight if they did not see him get beaten by floyd or rocked by lazcano? the thing is, after oscar, hatton was the biggest money fight available. hatton was even considered earlier than oscar as an opponent since he is nearer to 135 pounds that time.

 

Yeah, sorry about that man, I wasn't referring to you specifically in that post.

But in the end, I just don't agree it was just good matchmaking because for me, those were the best matches available at the time. If Roach knows Pac has a stylistic advantage over an opponent, that's no reason for the fight not to be made. A fight should be made because it puts the best fighters in a weight division against each other, regardless of style. Hatton was top dog at 140 at the time, and that's the best and most important reason to make that fight, regardless of style.

At WW, who were the top dogs? Floyd, Cotto, Clottey, Mosley and Berto (add in Margo before the Mosley fight). Pac has fought 3 and is about to fight the 4th guy in that list.

 

No no I still think they would have taken it , but Freddie would have had to addapt a different plan.

IT WASNT A CHERRYPICK , but Manny and Freddie are too proffesional not to have had some idea what they were gonna get with Hatton and I doubt they saw it as one of Mannys most dangerous bouts , so in that sense it was clearing up loose ends. thats all !

 

No sweat brother , done it plenty myself !

like I said above , im not saying it wasnt the best match up availaible but i bet if you could ask Manny and freddie if they thought it was 50-50 or a big risk before the fight ( and if they answered honestly ) I reckon they would tell you they werent overly worried.

Thats waht i mean by mopping up

 

Not specifically #5, but definitely within the top 5 (at least according to the Ring Magazine). He could have been number #1 on one of the belt rankings.

Had a quick look at the year ending 2008 and the top 10 JWW according the the Ring Magazine:

Champion: Hatton

1. Bradley
2. Witter
3. Kotelnik
4. Malignaggi
5. Ngoudjo
6. Holt
7. Torres
8. Urango
9. Maidana
10. Lazcano
http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine's_Annual_Ratings:_Junior_Welterweight--2000s

I don't think the IBO keep historical rankings on their website, so no idea if Malignaggi was ever ranked #1 on their JWW ranking, but it certainly is possible considering how highly-rated he was (even back to the Cotto fight in '06).

 

I guess I still just disagree with you somehow

I mean, I get what you're saying and I'm sure they were confident of a win as well. But I just don't think it's an important detail at all because being confident of a win is not in any way equal to actually winning. I'd rather a fighter win actual fights to answer who's better as opposed to a fighter not fighting a certain fighter and leave it up to the fans that he would have won the fight if they did fight.

Hatton and Floyd Sr were confident as well after all. And right now, the only reason we know for sure Roach is better than Floyd Sr is because their fighters fought and Roach's fighter came out on top.

 

were clearly just down to a semantics discussion now.

Many didnt cherry pick him , he was the man at 140.

( lets leave it there ! ) :cheers

 

Lol

added to the fact senior is clearly a ****ing lunatic ! :rofl

 

that ranking (year ender) might be right after the hatton fight and malignaggi fell down a couple of slots. but just before the fight, malignaggi was ranked as high as #1 at the weight iirc.

 

not a cherry pick

 

I think they knew there was a very good chance they would take Hatton apart on the evidence of his last 3 outings. But his credentials at the weight made the fight look competitive on paper.
I think it falls just short of a cherry pick because Hatton was next in line whatever.

 

of course it wasnt a cherry pick although its easy to call it that in hindsight. but people please stop saying pac came up in weight, he came down a weight class for this fight

 

Possibly, Malignaggi was ranked #2 behind Witter at the end of 2007. If we back up: Malignaggi defeated #5 Ngoudjo in January '08 which may have propelled him to #1 in the first half of that year and then went on to defeat Ndou in May; but Bradley had the better wins defeating #1 Witter in a few days prior in May and Cherry in September '08. I just can't see how Malignaggi would have been #1 by the time he faced Hatton in November.

I don't think it's really important where he was ranked as Malignaggi was a worthy opponent for Hatton to prove he still belonged at the top. Let's not also forget Hatton didn't just physically overpower Malignaggi, he outboxed him as well. Juan Diaz has better boxing fundamentals than Hatton and even he couldn't outbox Malignaggi.

 

Anyone saying Pacquiao "cherrypicked" Hatton is a ****ing moron.

Pac's first fight in the division, and he fights The Ring champion and number 1 ranked fighter, who was coming off the 2nd best win of his career.

This forum is becoming insane nut:nut ****ing idiots.

 

Yes he is, including everyone else Manny beat.
But only after Manny beats them that they become cherry picked or shot. :rofl