Ricky Hatton Exclusive: “I will pressure Manny Pacquiao like no one has before!”

FightFan.com's Ace Freeman caught up with 'The Hitman' Ricky Hatton and got his thoughts on his upcoming mega fight with Manny Pacquiao. Don't miss this detailed exclusive interview, only on FightFan.com!

FF: Ricky can you tell us how you plan on fighting Manny Pacquiao?

RH: Cut the ring off and stay in his face. I need to draw him into a fight. Manny is an aggressive fighter and he has a lot of pride in the way he fights. Obviously Manny has good footwork and he tries to hurt you with that big left cross so I do have to be careful as I put the pressure on. I plan to use lots of head movement and jabs to work my way in. I want to pick off shots and hopefully when Manny misses I’ll land some big shots. I think Manny is there to be caught quite a few times in fights.



Exclusive Ricky Hatton interview on Manny Pacquiao:



FF:FightFan.com here with ‘The Hitman’ Ricky Hatton. Ricky thanks for taking the time. Can you please tell us your thoughts on the style match up between yourself and Manny Pacquiao?

RH: I think it’s a good clash of styles. Manny is very aggressive and I’m very aggressive. Manny is a southpaw but he’s not necessarily an awkward southpaw. I think when he commits himself with some of his punches he puts all his eggs in one basket. He really tends to commit himself with some punches. If he hits you… you’ll feel it because he’s got good balance and shuffles in and out. He tends to go for broke with some punches. With that said, if he throws some of those punches - and misses… I think he sometimes puts himself off balance. I feel I’ve got good balance and good footwork and if he misses I’m going to slip some heavy shots of my own in there.

In his recent fights with the likes of Oscar, Diaz, Marquez, and Barrera… I don’t think anyone has really put the pressure on Manny. I think that because he’s so aggressive everyone has backed off. I’ve studied a lot of tapes and I think the last person to put him under pressure effectively was Eric Morales. Morales was able to push him backwards and he beat him doing it. I understand I’m the underdog but I’ll tell you I’m going in to this fight brimming with confidence. I feel anyone who fights me at 140 pounds will come in second.

FF:You got a good look at Manny when you were ringside for his victory over Oscar De La Hoya in December. Can you tell us what you thought of Manny’s improvements as a fighter in the last couple of years and how you thought he looked at that weight?

RH: He looked very good. Any win against Oscar De La Hoya is an exceptional one. Pacquiao showed good boxing ability. Not to take anything away from that, but I have to say - and I hope Oscar won’t take offense - that De La Hoya looked like a dead man walking that night. He didn’t look like he had his legs under him and he wasn’t throwing punches. I think the trouble with the weight effected Oscar’s performance. Manny did outbox Oscar, but I don’t think that was such a difficult task on that night.

FF:Ricky are you the bigger and stronger man in this fight, and if so how will that play a role in the outcome?

RH: Yes very much so. I also think my speed with surprise him. I think people underestimate my speed a little bit. I’ve changed up my training routine recently after years of doing heavy weight lifting. For the Mayweather fight I stopped doing the weights and I think my hands have been faster for it. With another training camp under my belt without the weights I think I’ll be even faster.

A lot of people are expecting Manny’s speed to cause me problems and I’m sure it will to an extent, but my speed is underestimated. Paul Malignaggi is a quick handed fighter and I feel I was faster than he was.

FF: If Manny elects to box and move, how do you plan to deal with that?

RH: Cut the ring off and stay in his face. I need to draw him into a fight. Manny is an aggressive fighter and he has a lot of pride in the way he fights. I’m hoping to draw him into a fight. Obviously Manny has good footwork and he tries to hurt you with that big left cross so I do have to be careful as I put the pressure on. I think if you look at my last fight my defense was improved. I think it will be even better with another training camp under my belt.

I plan to use lots of head movement and jabs to work my way in. I want to pick off shots and hopefully when Manny misses I’ll land some big shots. I think Manny is there to be caught quite a few times in fights.

FF: If Manny does stand toe-to-toe with you at some point do you feel that’s to your advantage?

RH: I do feel it’s to my advantage. Obviously there are dangers for myself as well because Manny can punch… but two of his previous defeats (when he was younger) were from body punches. Marquez has shaken him up a few times, and I also saw tape of a fighter who knocked him down with a body shot. I also saw Nedal Hussein knock Manny down hard with a jab. He’s been hurt in the past and I feel I will be more in-his-face than those fighters were. Manny is a very aggressive guy and because he fights the way he does it seems like opponents tend to back off and give him a lot of space. I won’t be giving up ground to him.

FF: You’ve started training already. How is camp going and what are you working on?

RH: We’ve been in the gym two weeks now. We’ve been working on putting the pressure on and jabbing my way in, picking off shots on the way in. I’m working on slipping the left cross, so it’s all really going according to plan so far. Me and my camp are extremely confident as we approach this fight. I understand I’m the underdog. Manny is a modern day legend when you think about how he won his first world title at flyweight. I understand we’re the underdog in the fight but I feel that’s a great position to be in. Not a lot of people expect me to win but I’m super confident.

FF: Ricky in this day and age a lot of fighters are very selective about who they fight. You seem to always be gunning for the biggest names out there. Do you feel you get enough credit for that?

RH: Well in certain areas I get the credit but I think any fighter like Manny or Mayweather or even myself… there’s always going to be people who will knock you and put you down. I spent the earlier part of my career listening to people calling me over-hyped and over-protected, saying I didn’t want to leave Manchester and that I was avoiding certain fighters. I think if you look at the last few years since I’ve been fighting in America I moved up in weight to fight the pound-for-pound best in Floyd Mayweather. I’ve won world titles and beat Kostya Tszyu. I was the first fighter to drop and stop Jose Luis Castillo (with a body shot).

Now I’m challenging the best pound-for-pound fighter again in Manny Pacquiao. There will always be people who will knock you but I don’t think too many people can complain about the fights Ricky Hatton’s been taking over the last few years. It seems all I’ve been doing is fighting world champions up in weight and down in weight. I’m taking on the best fighters in the world and that’s what I’ve said I was going to do since my early days. There’s no fear in Ricky Hatton.

FF: That’s a good note to leave it on. A lot of guys are quite selective about who they’ll fight but I guess that’s why they say there’s only one Ricky Hatton! Mad respect for that. Ricky thanks for doing this.

RH: My pleasure, thank you.