By: Jun Medina, Special Correspondent
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao will be in for a tough, competitive match when he fights British junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton on May 2, according to Pacquiao’s renowned trainer Freddie Roach.
Roach, who has trained 17 world champions, said he is devising a new game plan for the Hatton fight, which will be completely different from the strategy used in the Filipino icon’s last fight against Oscar De La Hoya.
Hatton is known for holding his opponents and crowding them in the inside to land his vaunted body punches. And unlike De La Hoya who was 35 years old when he fought Pacquiao, Hatton is only 30 years old.
Some boxing scribes also see Hatton improving under the watch of Floyd Mayweather Sr., who has succeeded in polishing Hatton’s defense at least for the Briton’s recent fight against Paulie Malignaggie.
However, Pacquiao’s camp is devising a game plan for the Hatton fight.
“We have a great game plan and look to fight the perfect fight again,” Roach told boxing columnist Scott Dryden of People’s Defender, an Ohio-based weekly. “If we do [execute the perfect fight] he [Hatton] will get knocked out in the later rounds. It’s going to be a good fight up until that point.”
Pacquiao, the reigning pound-for-pound best boxer in the world, is guaranteed $12 million, his biggest paycheck, for the megabuck fight to be held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Roach said Pacquiao-Hatton would be an exciting fight because both boxers pack power in their punches and that they “come to fight.”
Roach, a three-time trainer of the year, said one thing he likes about Pacquiao is his discipline and focus while training for a match.
“Pacquiao is a machine. From day one his work ethic was unbelievable,” Roach said of his prized student. “He is the hardest working fighter I’ve ever seen.”
He recalled that while training for the Oscar De La Hoya fight, Mike Tyson dropped by the gym told Roach to slow Pacquiao down because they had a fight in a couple of days.
“I said, ‘Mike this is slow,’” Roach said. “Manny is just a machine.”
“Manny averaged 44 rounds per day. He runs a lot basically trains like he fights; no caution. He really works hard,” Roach said.
Roach said he expects Manny to report to the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood on February 24 as he and Hatton are scheduled to kick off the super fight’s promotional tour Hatton’s hometown, Manchester in the United Kingdom.
They will also promote the fight in London before flying back to the United States with stops in major cities, like New York and Los Angeles.
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