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Monday, December 8, 2008

Hatton to Pacquiao: “I’ll see you in England!”

Now that the Dream Match is over and done with, many have speculated who Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao should face next. After his methodical dismantling of the aging legend that is Oscar De La Hoya, a lot of names who want a shot at the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter have surfaced.

But only two remains constant: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Ricky Hatton of England.

While a fight with Mayweather has all the elements in it to make it a big fight, the problem with the equation is that Mayweather is retired. Unless someone offers a guaranteed significant sum of prize money to the undefeated former pound-for-pound king, it is highly unlikely that Mayweather would fight the Filipino slugger.

That leaves Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton as the most eligible opponent Pacquiao should face next. The junior welterweight champion from England has already declared his desire to fight the winner of the Dream Match. A Pacquiao-Hatton is certainly going to be an exciting matchup, as both fighters also have the most loyal boxing-crazed fans in the world.

But fans aside, both Pacquiao and Hatton have similar brawler-slugger styles of fighting. Pit these two in a ring and mayhem will certainly ensue. Hatton loves to pound opponents to a pulp and have succeeded in doing that in all but one of his fights. The only exception is his match against Mayweather, Jr., whose tactical skills prove to be key elements during their fight.

Pacquiao, in the words of an American boxing analyst, “is a storm.” But his brawling is tamed by Roach, who have molded the Filipino fighter into a well-rounded boxer with sound technical foundation.

Though JMM announced he will climb to 147 just to get another shot at Pacquiao, it is highly unlikely that a third JMM-Pacquiao bout will materialize. The spunk is just no longer there. But the fact remains that JMM is the only boxer who can stay with Manny or even beat him. But then, Manny has already bested JMM.



Photo: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxingandmma/3659076/Ricky-Hatton-next-on-the-agenda-for-Manny-Pacquiao-after-Oscar-De-La-Hoya-win-Bocing-and-MMA.html

1 comments:

Dr. HotNonPorn said...

I'm looking forward to Hatton-Pacquiao myself.

And I'm glad that I'm not the only one that a Pacquiao-Marquez rubber match no longer carries any sizzle.

Pacman has passed Marquez by.