Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton – The Battle of the East and West
- by Troen Gonzales, Boxingbulletin.net
A mega-rumble between two nations’ banner-waving prize fighters is only a lunar period away.
My, how time flies by. It feels like waking up with Oscar de la Hoya’s dismantling just a day fresh in my thoughts.
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and treated like a god in the Philippines, will square of with Mancunian Ricky “Hitman” Hatton, the pride of Manchester and the confident bet of the Brits and the Western World.
The Hitman is nearly unbeaten in his professional record (45-1-0, 32), the only potato blight in his career being that lone loss against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Manny Pacquiao, on the other hand, has had a handful of losses in the middle of his career (48-3-2, 37), but has been catapulted to the top pound-for-pound honor simply because of his sweet annihilative work of Mexico’s greatest warriors in less than a decade.
The two history-making pugilists will brawl to their hearts’ content within MGM Grand’s square canvas in sultry Las Vegas, on May 2, 2009, at 9:00 p.m. (Sunday, the morn of May 3 in the Philippines).
Probably more than the Manchester-native, the Filipino will carry with him the entire hopes of the nation. Literally. Crime rates drop in the country and even in some places crime is non-existent on the day of battle. Online public opinions indicate Pacman as the heavy favorite of the match-up.
In contrast, Hitman is set to reclaim the glory he lost in his tussle with Mayweather, and to cement his claim to greatness by destroying the current pound-for-pound king. He is unbeaten at the 140-pound junior welterweight division, rendering his bragging rights towards victory completely legitimate and substantive.
Possessing tightly-knit but vastly different styles, both will likely have a hard time with each other. It remains to be seen which of the two will dispatch the other to kiss the canvas. Whoever the winner is, the bout will go down as one of the most significant in boxing history.
