Boxing

[MJ BarcaFan]

An update on Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao's training. Pacman vs. Ricky "Hitman" Hatton dubbed The Battle of East and West will be held in Las Vegas, US on 2 May 2009.


Pacquiao in homestretch of training for Hatton bout


MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao was in a lighthearted mood Tuesday when he entered the final phase of his sparring at the Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles, California.

And for someone who knows him for so long, that means just one thing – the “Pacman" is all set and ready against Ricky “The Hitman" Hatton.

“We have a good day (Tuesday). He boxed very well when he wants to, he played level when he wants to, he’s having fun," said trainer Freddie Roach. “He’s nice and loose. I know he’s ready."

Pacquiao reported at the gym an hour earlier than his regular sparring schedule to make time for his trip to San Francisco for the ceremonial pitch in the San Francisco Giants-San Diego Padres Major League Baseball game.

Once he arrived it was all business for the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter.

The 30-year old Filipino ring icon sparred for eight rounds, four each against regular sparmate Urbano Antilon and unbeaten super-featherweight Alisher Rahimov.

Pacquiao got his own share during the intense sparring, at one time allowing himself to be cornered at the ropes by both Antilon and Rahimov.

But once he switched the “on" button, there’s nothing the two sparmates could do.

“C’mon let’s go," Pacquiao hollered to the 31-year old Rahimov, a stocky Uzbek in the mold of Hatton, as he battered the Filipino southpaw on the corner ropes with crunchy body shots.

Pacquiao however, got back at him, unleashing a lethal 1-2 combination that wobbled the knees of Rahimov just as the sparring was about to end.

“Nice job," said Roach as Pacquiao went to his corner amidst a round of applause from a small crowd that included Top Rank Promotions big boss Bob Arum.

“He’s (Pacquiao) very quick, very powerful," said Rahimov through interpreter Vatim Kornilov, vice-president of German Titov Promotions, the biggest boxing promotion in Russia.

Rahimov is unbeaten in 18 pro fights, 11 of them coming by way of knockout. He saw action in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and remembered very well Filipino amateur boxer Danilo Lerio. He didn’t fight Lerio, though, but the two belonged in the same weight category (bantamweight).

“My little Russian is a tough guy, too," said Roach of Rahimov, who sparred with Pacquiao for two rounds previously. “But Manny’s too much for these guys right now."

Two more sparring sessions are scheduled on Thursday and Saturday. Sunday is rest day for the four-time world champion before Team Pacquiao heads to Las Vegas on Monday.

Source: GMANews.TV

[MJ BarcaFan]

Just about to watch hatton pacquiao 24/7. This program gets me so excited!

I believe hatton will beat pacquiao. This isnt because im from england..i said hatton would lose to mayweather.. but hatton is going to come into the fight at around 152 153 lbs, while pacquiao will be no way near that.

It will be a great fight though thats for sure.

Sorry Maz, Pacman beat Hatton via tko in the final minutes of 2nd round of the bout.


Here's the weigh in proceedings: Pacman = 138lbs while Hitman = 140lbs... British fans are cool


http://www.gmanews.tv/pacquiao-hatto...it-to-weigh-in

P.S. pardon the annotation, it's in Tagalog though but the video image is great

[beef-supreme]

I hate boxing and I also dislike Pacquiao, but HAHAHAH

[maz]

After the result last night i didnt even care about this fight! So i didnt watch it..but i heard the news this morning. Im so happy with the result. I did believe hatton would win although i heard he didnt have much defence. But i prefer pacquiao as a fighter so im pleased for him that he won this fight. Cemented his role as p4p fighter.

[maz]

I just watched the fight. Hatton was as bad as pacquiao was good. Hatton seemed to have reverted back to his billy graham days. Trying to go in with tons of punches and not keeping his hands up or moving his head. He looked so nervous before the fight i guess it was inevitable he would forget his game plan. Manny couldnt really showcase his skills for too long, but those knockdowns he dished out to hatton were amazing. That last one was something else. Im glad pacman won because i would much rather see him vs the winner of mayweather - jmm than seeing hatton fight one of them. Also would love to see cotto - pacman assuming cotto gets past clottey.

[maz]

Thanks for the link MJ. By the way what was the unofficial weights before the fight?

[VivaBarca]

Well done Pacquiao. Hatton is losing it a bit. He will retire in a year or two in my opinion.

[MJ BarcaFan]

Thanks for the link MJ. By the way what was the unofficial weights before the fight?

I think Pacman went to the ring around 145 lbs and Hitman 150+.

Either Coto, Mosley or Mayweather Jr for Pacman's next fight late this year.

Hatton had no defensive stance at all, his biggest mistake. Main advantage of Pacman is his hand speed as shown in his first knockdown of Hatton (opening round). Hatton was about to punch Pacman but he was beaten to it by Pacman's right hook, the result: a knockdown. The final blow was a beautiful left hook delivered with such precision. Pacman is a leftie and thus it's his lethal weapon.

[maz]

Yeah that final KO was amazing. So clean...truly a sight to behold.

[Warik]

Mayweather Jr. will make an excuse not to fight him tbh.

Alot of people are rallying around Hatton, claiming Mayweather Snr talked crap when he said he told Hatton to keep his hands up and be defensive when the chat you can hear from the corner before he was telling Hatton to attack..

[maz]

But he did say that to hatton. You could hear it after the first round.

Mayweather jr is a defence master and he picked up alot from his father so i cant see that hatton wasnt taught defence. He just got completely nervous going into the fight (look at the two fighters when michael buffer was announcing them...manny was ready to kill but ricky hatton looked like a rabbit in headlights). He must have forgotten all his gameplan. Its good for manny that he got rid of the competition so quickly. Would love to see him vs mayweather jr or JMM.

[MJ BarcaFan]

Yeah I would love a Pacman-Mayweather Jr bout, should be exciting. Hope Hatton is ok now, he was brought to the hospital after the fight. He may have a gameplan but once he was hit by the power of Pacman, I think Hatton just got groggy.

You gotta admire Pacman's work ethic in training. His preps include 149 rounds of sparring, 1,200 crunches/situps per day, running, speed balls, shadow boxing, working with the mitts and the works. His conditioning coach pummels his mid-section with a dos por dos (2x2) stick on a regular basis! That's his routine in each of his fights.

Pacman earned a cool $12M for this fight while Hatton $8M that's excluding the PPV share.

@ Warik

I think Floyd Jr will fight if the price is right and Pacman earns the accolade of being the best pound for pound fighter now. Mayweather Jr. wants to have a say about that.

[MJ BarcaFan]

Well done Pacquiao. Hatton is losing it a bit. He will retire in a year or two in my opinion.

Hey Viva, did you watch the fight? We are so proud of our Pacman's performance that night. He was unstoppable !!!!! The whole country is in celebration :-)

Hatton is still too young to consider retirement. He will be back after this, I mean he has just 2 losses in his career.

[maz]

MJ, pacquiao's training routine is amongst the most inspiring. He doesnt stop. His athleticism and his will to keep going is why im so happy he won the fight. He deserves it..

[MJ BarcaFan]

Maz I'm really glad you think that. Pacman is indeed an inspiration to me and to all of us Filipinos. His victory really means a lot to us. Pacman says that he is doing his best to make his countrymen happy and he is really fighting for the glory of our country. Here in the Philippines he is widely known as our Pambansang Kamao (National Fist) and he has a status resembling of a national hero :-)

Here's the stats of the fight:

Pacman - has 127 total punches (105 power punches & 22 jabs); connected 73 times

Hitman - has only 78 punches and connected just 18 times (16 power punches & 2 jabs)