WEAKNESSES, STRENGHTS OF PACQUIAO AND HATTON
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 01 May 2009
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- First for Manny Pacquiao: ?Don?t stand in front of Ricky Hatton after punching; don?t drop hands after throwing punches.?
Thus was the warning given by boxing historian and book author Bert Randolf Sugar, who, together with fellow ring expert Steve Small, enumerated the ?strengths and weaknesses? of both main protagonists in the 12-round International Boxing Organization (IBO) and Ring Magazine light welterweight championship dubbed ?The Battle of East and West? on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, here.
?Anyone who has watched 24/7 knows that Manny is trained to throw punches, then duck his head and step away to his left or right,? observed Sugar. ?This will work well against Hatton who frequently lowers his head and charges straight forward.?
Sugar counseled that Pacquiao ?must be first. Establish jab then dictate the distance and the pace. Once that?s accomplished, look to drop that straight left behind the jab and follow with combinations.?
Pacquiao should not get careless, he added. ?Manny?s mistakes are covered up by his blinding speed and power. However, he cannot afford to get caught up in exchange with the heavier-handed Hatton.?
For Hatton: ?Do not walk straight into Pacquiao. The fighter who has been most effective against Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, moved his head and got under Manny?s jab. To walk into Pacquiao?s power may prove disastrous to Ricky.
?Throw punches from the outside. Hatton needs to keep his hands busy from long range and not serve as a target for Pacquiao. He won?t outspeed nor out punch Pacquiao from the distance, but will be much more competitive as he works to get inside.
Hatton has to work inside not merely maul and wrestle. Once Ricky gets inside--which he will--he needs to pound Pacquiao hard to the body with both hands, then look to double up with hooks to the head over Manny?s low-held guard,? explained Sugar.
PACQUIAO?S STRENGHTS
Sugar said Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KO?s) has the advantages in both speed and technical skills, giving great angles, along with excellent lateral movement, and throwing a much higher volume of punches than Hatton.
?Pac Man? possesses a heat-seeking left and a potent right hook. And even though Hatton has been taught better head movement by his new trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., it may not be enough for Ricky to avoid getting hit.
?Rarely moving backward, Pacquiao can go to war when the occasion demands--for references see his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales.
?Pacquiao comes into this fight after one-sided ?ass-whuppings? of David Diaz and Oscar De La Hoya. And knows that a victory over Hatton could pave the way for a fight for boxing?s pound-for-pound supremacy with Floyd Mayweather Jr., giving him added confidence and incentive.?
HATTON?S STRENGHTS
Sugar said Hatton (45-1, 32 KO?s) is the more natural fighter at 140 pounds and by the time the two enter the ring could have a weight advantage of 10 to 12 pounds, probably coming in at about 156-157.
?Fighting like the bigger man, he will use his size and weight advantages to lean on the smaller Pacquiao (dare we say ?maul?) and bully his lighter-weight opponent in an attempt to tire him out.
Although giving up speed of both hand and foot to Pacquiao, Hatton possesses speed of his own--especially with his left jab, his best weapon to offset Pacquiao?s speed and move his opponent backward.
?Hatton trends to bore in with his head and shoulders in an attempt to outmuscle and bully his opponent, more bending than breaking the rules, and much will depend on the referee?s breaking the two apart in the clinches.
?Hatton possesses one of the best body punches in boxing, a heavyweight left hook which he digs to the body which, not incidentally, is the best punch with which to combat a southpaw.
?Hatton?s workrate, a buzz saw pace, may give Pacquiao trouble in early rounds.?
PACQUIAO?S WEAKNESSES
Sugar said although no one knows Pacquiao?s true fighting weight--having started his career at 106 pounds and pulling an ?Indian Rubber Man? act of fighting now in his fourth different weight class in a little over a year--making weight is not necessarily translatable into best fighting weight.
And here he gives up true size and weight to the heavier and stronger Hatton, maybe as much as 10 to 12 pounds by fight time, he added.
?In the only fight in which he fought a ?bullying? opponent, Agapitos Sanchez, Pacquiao had difficulty dealing with Sanchez. Hatton?s potential roughhousing could give Pacquiao trouble, much as Sanchez?s did, disrupting his rhythm and offsetting his speed.
?Pacquiao tends to lunge in with his hands held low and raises his chin after he punches, leaving in inviting target for the heavier-handed Hatton.
?Although he looked unbeatable against Oscar De La Hoya and David Diaz, neither gave him any competition and leave open the question of whether he can fulfill the expectations he created in those two fights against a more competitive opponent.
HATTON?S WEAKNESSES
Sugar said believing that offense is the best defense, Hatton at times has been reckless in his defense and proven to be susceptible to punches straight down the middle when he rushes in--a Pacquiao specialty.
?In the past, Hatton has had trouble with left-handers, which Pacquiao is.
?Although Hatton is ultra busy throughout a fight, his number of punches has declined in recent fights, his attack now consisting more of two or three punches and a clinch, which puts him at a decided disadvantage to the faster and busier Pacquiao.
?Hatton tends to balloon up between fights, having been called ?Ricky Fatton? by the British press, and the loss of 15 or so pounds may have a telling effect on Hatton in the later rounds,? Sugar concluded.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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