It will come to no surprise to all who know me, but I was very proud of Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao in his stunning knock-out victory over Ricky “Hitman” Hatton last night in Las Vegas. Manny Pacquiao has long cemented his place in the boxing hall of fame for me, and Saturday night was just icing on his induction cake. Going into this fight, Pacquiao was rated as the best pound for pound fighter in the world, but Hatton was not far behind him, usually rated around #8, so this would be a great showdown. Vegas had Pacquiao as an odds on favorite to win a decision, but we all know that doesn’t always work in a fighters favor.
Round one started out the usual way for both fighters, aggressive, but with Pac-Man starting to hit Hatton a lot more than the Hitman is used to being hit. Then at the 2:06 mark, Pac-Man hit Hatton with a devastating right that dropped Hatton for an eight count. At that point, even the English announcers were questioning whether Hatton would be able to weather the storm. When this occurred, I jumped up and cheered so loudly that it woke up my daughter Kayla, who came out to see what the clatter was all about, and stuck around to watch the rest of the fight. We settled back down for another 45 seconds or so until Pac-Man dropped Hatton again, but this time, my wife Kathy, my daughter and I all jumped up screaming for Pac-Man. At that time, we all knew it would be just a matter of time until Pac-Man finished off Hatton.
In between the round, Floyd Mayweather Sr. gave his fighter probably the worst pep talk I have heard since Emmanuel Steward quit a fighter’s corner to “go get a drink”. Floyd Sr, screamed at his charge that he should have heeded his advice earlier in his camp and not tried to fight Pacquiao early. That is like telling Abe Lincoln that he should not have sat in the presidential box at the Ford’s Theater on the fateful night. Hatton is a slugger and was always going to meet Pacquiao in the center of the ring every time.
The second round brought a renewed sense of confidence for Hatton, even having him land a punch that seemed to stun Pacquiao for a second and back him up. Soon after that punch, Pacquiao seemed to shake the cobwebs and decide to settle back into his game plan. Pac-Man seemed to learn that Hatton’s power did not have the effect that would hurt him, and he went to work on breaking down Hatton. Pacquiao seemed to decide that he would step up his attack on Hatton and at the 2:57 mark of the second round, the plan paid off bigger than Mine That Bird’s payoff at the Kentucky Derby. Pac-Man threw a left hook that not only dropped Hatton, but also knocked him into another world, as referee Kenny Bayless was waved off the fight. At this point not only was I going crazy, but my wife and daughter had been making enough noise to alert the rest of my neighbors to what had taken place. Pacquiao had scrolled his name in the history books with this fight, and shook off any doubt people had of his greatness. Questions raised after he beat Oscar De La Hoya into retirement, questions like “did he beat a shell of a fighter in Oscar” and “how will he react when he has a real puncher in front of him”, were all after thoughts at the 2:57 mark.
We all know that the in demand fight will be the newly unretired Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, probably for late 2009. But where does Ricky Hatton go from here? Despite this loss, Hatton is still near the top of the light welterweight division. Hatton now has two losses on his record, but both of those loses come from fighters who were ranked the best pound for pound at the time Hatton step into the ring with them. Hatton should be able to bounce back from this loss and still be a major force in boxing once more. As for the Pacquiao and Mayweather showdown, this fight should happen, if and when Mayweather gets by Juan Manuel Marquez in July. The target date of a Pacquiao-Mayweather “Superfight” should be December 2009. Being a Pacquiao super fan, I can’t wait for that fight to happen! GO MANNY!
Source: doghouseboxing.com
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