There is little doubt Manny Pacquiao's superb 9th round KO win over defending WBC lightweight champion David Diaz was one of "Pac-Man's" most flawless performances - even if the easy-to-hit Diaz was not one of his best opponents. The way Manny never lost a single minute of a single round and then sent his man face down for the count was immensely impressive. Well, according to promoter Bob Arum, who spoke to Philstar.com, Ricky Hatton will wind up suffering a similar fate when he meets the Filipino great on May 2nd.
Arum may be guilty of being a touch biased, as he promotes Pacquiao and obviously has a huge interest in seeing him winning - but the Top Rank boss says he is sure his man will leave "The Hitman" in a similar, flat on his face position to the one Diaz ended up in last June. One of the reasons Arum is so sure Pacquiao will win next month is because he truly believes Hatton cannot handle fighting southpaws one bit.
Speaking to Philstar, Arum said one of the main reasons Oscar De La Hoya was so easily beaten by Manny back in December is because he too was never able to master boxing against a lefty. Arum sees Hatton being beaten as comprehensively as "The Golden Boy" was.
"I don't know if it'll end in six or nine, or whatever," Arum said. "All I know is it's going to end in a knock out and Hatton's going down, face first, just like Diaz. Just like Oscar, Hatton is lost fighting southpaws. That talk about Oscar being dehydrated when he fought Manny is a lot of bull. Manny fought like a traditional lefty, moving to the right and throwing punches from all angles. Oscar was badly beaten up."
Arum sees Hatton being beaten up too. Indeed, the promoter claims the last time Ricky met a southpaw - when he fought Luis Collazo in May of 2006 - he was almost KO'd in the fight, due largely to Collazo's southpaw stance.
"Hatton almost got knocked out in the last round of his fight against Collazo, who's a southpaw," Arum said. "Hatton can't fight a lefty. Manny will prove it."
Arum is correct in what he says, as Hatton, though he may deny it, was in real trouble in the final round when he met Collazo. However, though Collazo's stance may have had a lot to do with the difficulty Hatton had in fighting him, the size difference was also a genuine factor. As we know, Hatton had moved up to 147 to challenge Collazzo, and, as was proved again against Floyd Mayweather Junior, Ricky is no welterweight. Against Pacquiao, though, Hatton will be the naturally bigger, and possibly stronger man.
Still, it's tough to argue with what Arum says when it comes to how his man will cause Hatton severe problems due to his stance AND his blinding speed.
"In sports, speed kills. And there's nothing Hatton can do about it," Arum explained. "Hatton's a strong body puncher, but Manny's a stronger body puncher. Manny's too fast for him. I'm talking not just hand speed, but foot speed, too."
It is to be hoped Hatton, for his sake, has been learning a lot from new trainer Floyd Mayweather senior when it comes to how to cope with southpaws. Surely "The Hitman" will have sparred countless rounds with southpaws by the time May 2nd's huge fight rolls around.
Source: eastsideboxing.com
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