Pacquiao And Hatton: The Aftermath

There are a lot of things that have happened in the boxing world that I haven’t talked about. In my previous post, I have mentioned that my brother died a few hours after the Pacquiao-Hatton fight. So it is quite understandable why my log has not been touched for a while. But still life moves on, so on with the analysis.

So everybody knows that Pacquiao destroyed Hatton in two rounds, so I am not going to dwell on that. But what I will talk about is what’s next for both men.

A lot of people, including the self-confessed “best trainer of all time and not this time or that time” Floyd Mayweather, Sr., has called for Hatton to retire. Although he suffered a very devastating loss to Pacquiao, I still believe that the brawler from England still has a few good fights in him. The thing is, he can only fight at the B-Level. His outings with two pound-for-pound quality fighters only show that he cannot compete at that level. It may be a bitter pill to swallow but if he wants to go out with a win, then he needs to fight someone who he knows he can really handle.

As for Pacquiao, the victory over Ricky Hatton has cemented his status as the #1 Pound-for-Pound best fighter in the world. Also, the win has given him his fifth (or sixth division championship, still under debate), securing his place in the history of the sport and boxing’s Hall of Fame. The main point is that Pacquiao can fight and win against fighters between 140 and 147. And with a large room for improvement, Pacquiao provides a very scary challenge for boxers within the light welterweight and welterweight divisions.

A lot of names have surfaced, itching to have a date with Pacquiao inside the squared circle. Probably the matchups that are likely to happen are bouts with welterweight champions Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach has already expressed their camp’s desire to fight either guy at a catch weight between 143 and 144.

There are other boxers who want a shot at Pacquiao but as for the time being, these two are the ones that make sense. The reason is that both fighters hold welterweight belts and a win over either one of them will give Pacquiao his sixth (or seventh) division championship, tying or possibly surpassing Oscar Dela Hoya’s record of six division championships. For Cotto and Mosley, a win against Pacquiao will raise their status to higher heights.

As for the money, a fight with the Pac Man is sure to be the opposing corner’s biggest payday. If that is not a good motivation, then I don’t know what is.