Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton - A Final Look
Published May 1, 2009 by Martin Bean
Final Part (of three) In The Pacquiao vs. Hatton Series by Erik Sarmiento Dela Cruz (email).
With two of boxing’s most thrilling performers set to clash on Saturday evening (Sunday morning in Manila and Manchester), expect nothing short of brutal war. Both have an insatiable appetite for blood and action and neither has an ungodly penchant for a play it safe kind of fight. Freddie Roach’s selling line that this will be a bloody masterpiece in the mould of Hagler-Hearns, referring to the 1985 violent middleweight collision of Thomas Hearns (61-5-1, 48 KOs) and Marvin Hagler (62-3-2, 52 KOs) which is arguably the most exciting fight in history, might just be the best way to predict the outcome of this bout.
While everybody has a prediction on how this fight might end, with most in the consensus that there’s no way this one will ever go the full distance, let’s try to look beyond the selling lines and the evident thrill that looms just around the corner and dissect the points and every aspect that make this fight so interesting.
Legacy
Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) is already a sure thing in terms of legacy. He has already proven more than enough to earn his place in history. With victories over the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera (65-7, 43 KOs) (twice), Erik Morales (48-6, 34 KOs) (twice), Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) (once) and Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) (once), there’s no substantial argument to nullify the fact that he has done enough to be Asia’s best ever boxer. Furthermore, the Filipino superstar has earned titles in five divisions, including the Ring title he captured by beating Barrera at featherweight, tucked under his belt.
For his part, Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs)—whose career took a beating because of his failure to look good even in victories against average yet awkward fighters like Carlos Maussa (20-5, 18 KOs), Juan Urango (21-1-1, 16 KOs) and Luis Collazo (29-4, 14 KOs)—has seemingly rediscovered the proverbial path to reinvigorate his career with his brilliant victories over lightweight great Jose Luis Castillo (57-9-1, 49 KOs) and speedster Paul Malignaggi (26-2, 5 KOs). Hatton just needs to recapture the momentum he got by overwhelming all time light welterweight great Kostya Tszyu (31-2, 25 KOs) and his career is on to the path of greatness.
The Manchester’s Hitman is now certified elite, with many experts placing his name at the lower top ten of the mythical pound for pound ranking. A win against the reigning pound for pound king will certainly further his ranking, validate him as one of boxing best, and ultimately steer his career towards Canastota. For Pac-Man, it is a challenge of an enhanced career legacy. A fourth lineal title—a follow-up to the string of three lineal titles he earned by beating Chatchai Sasakul (65-4, 40 KOs) at flyweight, by destroying Barrera at featherweight and by trashing them all at super featherweight—will etch his name in the same stone as that of Roberto Duran’s (103-16, 70 KOs), a four lineal title claimant.
Style
While they both love to press the action forward and not one is economical in their punches, their styles are strikingly dissimilar from each other. Their respective styles are basically different, such difference we will see posing interesting problems for both come fight night.
Ricky Hatton is a swarmer which could be likened to a bulldozer. He likes to get inside, glue his head to the other guy’s chest and keep swinging from bell to bell. He will plough through whatever is placed in front of him. He is also a ferocious body puncher and he showed he can end a fight with just a body shot such as against Castillo. Pacquiao is a distance puncher and a very hard hitter. He is a human dynamo who peppers his opponent with his four fisted attacks. It is not a good idea to just stand in front of him as he can throw ten successive power punches like he did against David Diaz (34-2-1, 17 KOs). The man is the ultimate punching machine!
Like what I have discussed in the second instalment of this series, Pacquiao is everything awkward Hatton hates in style. Tough, fast and a clever southpaw, the Filipino idol is as awkward as Maussa, Urango and Collazo can be. On the other hand, Hatton is yet the toughest infighter and the most ferocious body puncher Pacquiao has ever faced in his entire career. It’s foolish for Hatton not to take Pacquiao away from his comfortable distance where he can launch his lead fisted attacks just as it’s suicidal for Pacquiao to stand toe to toe against Hatton and trade punches up.
Skills
Both guys have improved a whole lot since their respective career defining wins. The Pac-Man is no longer the one-handed speed demon that Barrera first met at featherweight while the Hitman has proven he can be as patient as any good technician in the business in his last fight against Malignaggi, something that wasn't there yet even in his stellar performance against Tszyu. Moreover, Malignaggi just happened to be the fastest guy he has ever faced in his entire career. There’s no question that both can box well as they have now honed the ability to stay calm and patient in spying for openings and in using angles in their attacks.
While both are not your brilliant technician yet in doing cerebral boxing, they have proven they can be comfortable fighting at a distance. Pacquiao was able to box superbly against Diaz and De La Hoya while the Hitman has proven he can do the same thing against world class opponents like Ben Tackie (29-11-1, 17 KOs) and Malignaggi.
However, it can be said that Hatton has accomplished something better than Pacquiao in this department. If Pacquiao’s victims in his new-honed talent were fighters who just stood there, the British begs to differ. Malignaggi is a fine boxer with dazzling hand and foot speed and Hatton was able to out-speed and out-box him in their fight.
Another interesting area in this department is their jab and footwork. Hatton’s left jab is a class on its own that remains surprisingly underrated. It’s fast enough to catch quick guys like Malignaggi and its brilliant enough to get him inside for his infighting game as he showed against Tszyu and Malignaggi. While Pacquiao is not known for his jabs, his masterful ability to dart in and out can make up for this area. It was the weapon that allowed him to overwhelm De La Hoya with his razor sharp punches. Hatton plans to lunge in and bulldoze the Pac-Man? The Filipino has foot speed to get out of danger area. Pacquiao plans to utilize this dazzling in and out movement? Hatton has the jab to catch him at any angle.
Speed
This department clearly goes to Pacquiao’s way. His blistering hand speed is obviously the main weapon he will utilize into full use here as Hatton can never be mistaken as a speed demon. Hatton has had successes against slick guys in the person of Collazo and Malignaggi, but even the hand speed of those guys combined would pale in comparison to Pacquiao’s. There is no fighter in his weight reach who could possibly match Pacquiao in terms of hand speed. Floyd Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) comes into mind, but Pacquiao is such an offensive monster that his high work rate compliments perfectly with his hand speed. He throws dazzling combination after combination, and he just throws them without let up.
Size and Power
Coming down from welterweight to meet Hatton on his turf, this is Pacquiao first fight at the weight. Hatton has never been defeated in this weight. It’s Hatton’s strongest weight while Pacquiao, having started at light flyweight, will be the naturally smaller man. The size factor definitely goes to Hatton. It can also be said that Hatton is the naturally stronger man at the weight having KO’d bigger guys.
Pacquiao however had already fought as high as the welterweight and he passed the test with flying colours. With his dominant performance against De La Hoya at welterweight, it can be said that size is not an issue to him. Another fascinating thing about Pacquiao is his ability to be comfortable at any weight division he jumps at.
Chin
Being the naturally smaller man, it is interesting to see how Pacquiao’s chin would react to light welterweight blows. His chin is rock solid, having been able to withstand the hardest blows of his opponents. But the light welterweight might just be the biggest division in terms of size where Pacquiao would face his strongest opponent yet. And Hatton is a heavy hitter who, like him, keeps it swinging without let up. For his part, Hatton has already proven to the world that his chin is made up of iron having been able to withstand the hardest blows of the harder hitters of the division.
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