Ricky Hatton vs Manny Pacquiao

Joe Morgan couldn’t stress enough that speed and power would be the keys to this fight. In the sold out MGM Grand this weekend, Manny Pacquiao proved that he is the faster, stronger and better fighter as he pummelled Hatton, knocking him down twice before a brutal KO in just the 2nd round.

With Hatton’s career now in tatters, Pacquiao is the undisputed pound for pound king of the boxing world – at least until Floyd Mayweather Jr makes his comeback later in the year…

Speed kills and veteran boxing trainer Freddie Roach believes the faster hands of Manny Pacquiao will be the decisive factor in a knock out victory against England’s Ricky Hatton. The pair fight in Las Vegas this Saturday night at the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas in a bout to decide who is the best pound for pound fighter in boxing. I think Roach’s prediction will be right. Hatton may be a national hero but if you want to be a winner at the bookies when having a punt on the fight, put your cash on a win for the Pac Man.

“Take a look on the night. Manny isn’t reckless like he used to be. And he has speed. And speed kills in the ring. Ricky’s tough but his champion’s heart won’t be enough for Manny’s natural speed and power,” says Roach.

The history of boxing is littered with great fighters who stuck around in the sport too long. “It’s like a point you reach, then it’s down hill,” lamented Robert De Niro when playing a retired Jake LaMotta in the film Raging Bull. Hatton reached that point some years ago. When he wakes up on Sunday morning in the famous city of losers, he will be contemplating retirement. Whether rumours that Hatton has been rocked a few times by sparring partners in the gym are true or not, the Hit Man is a fighter that is past his best and ready to be taken out.

Pacquiao, who has won world titles in four different weight categories from flyweight to lightweight, is a fighter at his peak and he has stepped up to the light welterweight division to face Hatton. While he is not as skilled a technician as former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Junior – who knocked Hatton out in the tenth round – the result will be pretty much the same. Lay bets on a Pacquiao knock out win, perhaps also in the tenth round.

Hatton has expressed doubts over Pacquiao’s power. “Oscar De La Hoya [Pacquiao’s last knock out victim] told me that he was thinking, just knock me out. That’s how bad and drained he felt. And Manny didn’t have the power to put him out of his misery,” says Hatton.

Hatton also believes that the appointment of Floyd Mayweather Senior as his trainer has changed him as a fighter. “I’m much better now and Floyd has a lot to do with that – he’s brought me to a higher level by calming me and making me focus on skills and movement rather than raw aggression. I needed that change,” says Hatton.

But having studied his English foe, Pacquiao is confident that his faster hands and quick-thinking instincts in the ring will be too much for the Hit Man. “I don’t care if he’s bigger or stronger,” he says. “Boxing is more than that. It is also mental and about the quickness of your mind and quickness of your body. That’s very important. Speed is very important.”

Pacquiao is the most famous Filipino in the world and feted as a near king in his homeland. But he is also a humble student of the art of boxing. Roach speaks about how Pacquiao is still learning in the trainer’s Wild Card gym. He also talks about his fanatical work ethic. “I’ve studied a lot of techniques for him [Hatton]. I don’t want to tell anyone what. I want to keep it as a surprise, what we have been doing in training,” says Pacquiao.

Meanwhile, Hatton shows all the signs of a fighter whose ego has left him in denial of his declining skills. The Manchester man, who has started referring to himself in the third person during interviews, can tell himself all he likes that the tutorage of Mayweather Senior has made him invincible again. He can tell himself that the power of his head and body shots will be too much on Saturday night. Speed kills in boxing. Make sure you bet on the faster man – Manny Pacquiao.