SPORTS SHORTS 145: RICKY HATTON SAYS MANNY PACQUIAO CAN STILL PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT, FLOYD MAYWEATHER WANTS ERROL SPENCE TO WIN
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 05 Jun 2021
Ricky Hatton who tasted Manny Pacquiao's dreaded knockout punches has all praises for his former opponent. He is now a boxing columnist for British tabloid Metro, Hatton commented about the senator's coming fight with undefeated welterweight champion Errol Spence.
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“He’s a very clever person,” said Hatton of Pacquiao in his Metro column. “Traditionally boxers don’t know when to call it a day."
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Hatton thought that the Filipino boxing legend, even at age 42, has still what it takes to put up a good fight with the American unified champion.
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“They don’t know when to pick the right time to hang their gloves up but you would like to think he is clever enough to do that and the fact that he is accepting this fight only means he must feel he is still capable of mixing it up at that level."
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The former world light welterweight champion from Manchester doesn't want him to get injured, but trusted the eight-division world titlist's trainers for knowing what is good for Pacquiao.
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“The one thing is, he is absolutely going to go down as one of the greatest of all time but we don’t want to see him get hurt. But you have got to put faith in him and the team behind him and assume they are clever enough to know what they are doing."
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Hatton continued that comparing Spence to Keith Thurman who Pacquiao defeated in 2019, "Spence is a little bit sharper, a little bit crisper in what he does."
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He pointed out that Bernard Hopkins became a world champion at an older age. He defeated Jean Pascal for the WBC and The Ring light heavyweight belts. Hopkins became the oldest boxer in history to win a world title, at the age of 46, breaking George Foreman's record established in 1994.
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“You would think that the reflexes might be starting to go a bit on Manny Pacquiao," said Hatton. "But every now and again you get the odd freak. Bernard Hopkins went onto become a world champion at 48!"
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Hopkins later broke his own record by winning the IBF light heavyweight title from Tavoris Cloud in 2013 at age 48, and in 2014 he won the WBA (Super) title from Beibut Shumenov, at age 49.
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Hatton stated that we can’t just cite Pacquiao’s age and say he can’t do it. He added that no one likes to see fighters whom we have admired so much to fight and get hurt. But Hatton concluded that Pacquiao will improve his tenacity versus Spence.
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“If you are still performing at the highest level why not? But he will certainly have to raise his game again against Spence, he is a hell of a fighter."
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Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton, billed as The Battle of East and West, was a match for The Ring magazine's light welterweight championship and IBO super lightweight championship. The fight was held on May 2, 2009 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States and generated 1.75 million pay-per-view buys.
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A sellout crowd of 16,262, mostly consisting of Hatton fans saw Pacquiao bombarded three straight rights on Hatton. Then Pacquiao knocked Hatton down with a right hook in the first round.
Hatton got up at the count of eight, but Pacquiao sent Hatton to the canvas a second time, with nine seconds remaining in the first round, breaking Hatton's fortification with a fast combination followed by a thundering left.
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In the second round, Pacquiao connected with two right hooks and a savage left-right-left barrage. Hatton tried to hold Pacquiao's head, but Pacquiao finally punctuated the fight by unleashing a hard left hook, sending Hatton to dreamland 2:59 in round two.
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Hatton's lesson with the fight made him contemplate that Pacquiao is not an ordinary fighter. In just two rounds, Pacquiao landed 73 out of his 127 punches, including 65 power punches, while Hatton connected only 18 of 78 punches. It was named Knockout of the Year by The Ring magazine.
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Floyd Mayweather, did not hesitate to chose Spence as the winner over Pacquiao, when interviewed by a group of reporters about the coming fight.
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“I wish them nothing but the best,” said Mayweather. “I’m high on Errol Spence, I’m behind my people first and always so of course I want to see Errol Spence win.”
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Even before Mayweather retired, he had high hopes for the rising welterweight boxer. Mayweather predicted that Spence would become a world champion. It indeed came true true as he now unified two of the four major world welterweight titles.
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Presently, Spence is the heavy favorite against Pacquiao in their August 21 encounter. But Pacquiao is oozing with confidence to score an upset. Because of that, Mayweather will be throwing his full support for Spence to take the victory.
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He had experienced Pacquiao's power and agility in May 2, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather knows that Pacquiao is really a threat. At several instances during their match, Pacquiao seemed to astonish Mayweather with potent blows even if the American won by unanimous decision.
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With his knowledge on Pacquiao's fighting strategies, Mayweather will be communicating to Spence to divulge some techniques. "Actually, I’m going to call him and give him some pointers. I want to see Errol Spence win,” said Mayweather.
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LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs in the first round. In his 14 previous postseason appearances, it was the first time it happened. The Phoenix Suns moved to the second round after a 113-100 Game 6 victory over the Lakers.
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Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers win over the Dallas Mavericks 104-97 on Friday to escape elimination and force a Game 7. Leonard was averaging 30.4 points per game in the series before Friday. He tied a playoff career high of 45 points with 18-of-25 shooting, 5-of-9 three pointers, six rebounds and three assists.
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At the 1924 Paris Olympics, the "Flying Finns" dominated the long-distance running, while the British and Americans dominated the short distance events. Paavo Nurmi won the gold in the 1500 m and 5,000 m, which were held with only an hour between them, and the cross country run.
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Ville Ritola won the 10,000 m and the 3,000 m steeplechase, and finished second to Nurmi on the 5,000 m and cross country. Albin Stenroos won the marathon, while the Finnish team, including Nurmi and Ritola, won the gold in the 3,000 m and cross country team events.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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