Pacquiao has many flaws – Hatton

Ricky Hatton has Manny Pacquiao all figured out.

The British banger said in a recent teleconference call that while admitting that Pacquiao is tricky, the Filipino lefty has a number of great flaws that he and trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. will exploit come fight night on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“I think I’ve got to be careful, because he (Pacquiao) shuffles in and out with his feet and he tries to outbox you on some punches,” Hatton told fight writers from his training camp in Manchester.

“So you’ve got to be clever and not fall for the trap, if you like.”

Hatton, a 2-1 underdog, noted that Pacquiao’s daredevil attitude on top of the ring, will not work wonders this time.

“Because he’s (Pacquiao) so aggressive, he sometimes gambles with every punch. He puts everything he’s got into that left cross and he drills the whole right back. I think if you can make him miss, I think sometimes he puts that much into his punch. I think if you can make him miss, he’s very open and he’s off balance, and along with my head move and my hand speed, my footwork and everything will work.

“And now, if he misses, he’s going to have some big shots waiting for him. And also, I’m going to be the biggest man that he’s ever fought. He fought Oscar De La Hoya, but Oscar was 147. I’ll be in the ring at 154. And in the past, he’s been put down several times with body shots, he’s been shaken up to the head. He’s the pound for pound best fighter in the world. If you look at it from that point of view and you’re asking me why I think I’ll win the fight, obviously those are the reasons.”

This was also the belief of one of former world champion Barry McGuigan, one of the finest fighters to have come out of the United Kingdom, in his column in the Daily Mirror.

“Pacquiao is a force of nature. But he is unproven at this weight,” wrote McGuigan, who held the World Boxing Association featherweight crown in the mid-1980s and who now resides in London.

“Apart from one assignment at lightweight against David Diaz and the Oscar de la Hoya bout at welter, he (Pacquiao) has not fought above 130 lbs.

“Diaz was the weakest of the champions at 135 lbs and does not cut a patch on Hatton. De La Hoya turned out to be little more than a carcass,” McGuigan said.

mb.com.ph