‘I’ll Beat Manny At His Own Game’: Hatton

Ricky Hatton believes he has a distinct advantage when he tangles with Manny Pacquiao on May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton, who is staking his International Boxing Organization light welterweight crown, claims he is completely familiar with the way Pacquiao moves and fights. He said he has watched all of Pacquiao’s previous bouts, including the Filipino ring icon’s two defeats to unheralded foes in his younger years and his eighth-round stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya last December.

Hatton told Fightnews.com on Wednesday that he had watched videos of Pacquiao’s fights until the wee hours of the morning. He said the Gen. Santos City lefty is one of his “absolute favorites” in action. For all of Pacquiao’s brilliant fluid style, immense stamina and ferocity, however, Hatton thinks he’s got the flair and style to topple the Filipino superstar from his perch as the world’s greatest pound-for-pound fighter. On fight night, the Briton said, he would cease to be a fan. “I am in the ring to do a job and that job is to beat Manny at his own game,” he said in Fightnews.com.

The 30-year-old Hatton, unbeaten at 140 pounds, was particularly impressed with Pacquiao’s “clinical demolition” of De La Hoya. “He cut him (De La Hoya) down and barely got touched on the whiskers,” noted Hatton, adding he’s willing to pay just to watch Pacquiao. “Great fighters can punch and land and not get punched.” Like Pacquiao, Hatton said he loves to spar and train hard for every fight. He would be in the best shape of his career when he battles Pacquiao, he added.