Ricky Hatton knows he will have a size advantage when he faces Filipino star Manny Pacquiao in a May 2 showdown, but the Englishman said on Wednesday that his speed and skill will carry the day.
"I strongly believe I will be as fast as Manny. If I'm not as fast as Manny, I'll only the narrowest of margins behind me," Hatton said. "He's going to get a shock. The technical side and the speed will shock him more than anything."
Hatton, 45-1 with 32 knockouts, suffered his only loss in 2007 when Floyd Mayweather Jnr stopped him in the 10th round at welterweight. Southpaw Pacquaio is 48-3 with two drawn and 36 knockouts.
Mayweather's father, Floyd Snr, serves as Hatton's trainer and boldly predicts a knockout of Pacquiao in their junior welterweight showdown.
"We're going to bust his ass up," Mayweather Snr said. "Ricky is one of the easiest guys in the world to train. Makes it easy for me and hard for Pac-Man. Ricky surprises me at times. I'm sure he'll surprise Pac. He's an A-1 student.
"Ricky has a very good chance of knocking him out. Pacquiao is fighting a man who has real strength, can keep real pressure on him, bang him to the body and the head and smother him at the same time. That's hard to deal with."
Hatton is comfortable at the 140-pound weight and likes his chances of handling whatever the Filipino star can throw at him.
"To say I'm confident would be an understatement," Hatton said. "Training is going well. I'm feeling really sharp. Me and Floyd have been doing good work. Obviously the speed factor is going to be a big factor.
"I've always said at 140 pounds I believe I'm too strong and too big. With the hand speed and punching, the things I'm learning with Floyd and my boxing ability, Manny has got something else to worry about besides the sheer size. He has got some technical ability to worry about come the night."
British supporters are expected to outnumber Pacquiao backers 2-to-1 in the arena, according to Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer. Hatton said they can expect to see a new Hatton, just as Pacquiao would.
"Ricky Hatton always goes for the knockout but you can't go in there crash and wallop. You have to show a little more technical ability. I think that's going to show up bigger than the size aspect.
"I'm agressive but I'm also technical as well. They're going to see the boxing side of Ricky Hatton."
Hatton praised his work on being more elusive in camp and promised that if Pacquiao swings and fails to connect, Hatton will be ready to take advantage.
"If you can make him miss, he's very open and off balance," Hatton said. "If he misses, he's going to have some big shots waiting for him."
March 4. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
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Boxer Hatton plans to shock Pacquiao with speed and moves
Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 3:34 AM Posted by Beijing News
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