By Mark Vester
Recognized as the number-one junior welterweight, Ricky Hatton, sat ringside at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last Saturday night and watched his close friend and idol, Oscar De La Hoya, taking a vicious beating for eight rounds at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. De La Hoya also promotes Hatton under the Golden Boy Promotions banner.
Hatton said it was very hard to watch De La Hoya take such a beating. It nearly brought him to tears as Oscar was wide open for Pacquiao's combinations and straight lefts and was barely able to defend himself. Now the Manchester fighter is in line to fight Pacquiao in the first possible super fight of 2009.
"I could have cried. So many good fighters end their careers in that manner, but, thankfully, he is OK. He's such a great champion, such a role model for the game and it wasn't nice to see. He's obviously messed the weight up and, with his age, your reactions go, your resistance goes, you can't take the body shots. All I said was that I want to fight the best in the world. I feel very blessed that I'm in a position to fight someone like Manny Pacquiao. He was outstanding," Hatton told Ron Lewis of The Times.
Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, says Hatton is the first choice for Manny.
"Ricky's number one on the drawing board. Until the new year it's celebration time for all the Filipinos. After that, we'll sit down, we'll talk, that's probably the most logical fight," Arum said.
Source: boxingscene.com
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