Hatton’s got no defense — Roach

Day in and day out, trainer Freddie Roach just couldn’t seem to understand why fight fans keep on asking him why he thinks Manny Pacquiao will get past Ricky Hatton as though the British is just a mere speck on the road and not a roadblock that some aficionados love to portray him to be.

“Hatton gets hit easily and he’s got no defense,” Roach told the Bulletin Friday from the Wild Card Boxing Club, site of Pacquiao’s training camp for the May 2 battle with Hatton at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“Manny is way much better than Hatton. I just can’t see Manny losing the fight,” said Roach, who believes Pacquiao will get the job done in three rounds or less.

“I am more confident in saying that Manny will beat Hatton than when he fought (Oscar) De La Hoya,” said Roach, who presided over another heated eight-round sparring session involving Pacquiao against hot welterweight prospect Raymond Serrano of Philadelphia and rugged lightweight Urbano Antillon.

“Eight rounds of good and hard rounds and Manny just keeps on getting better and better and I am happy where he’s at right now,” said Roach.

Still, Roach wants to instill in Pacquiao’s mind that he cannot afford to relax against Hatton.

“Getting his back on the ropes would be the biggest mistake (that Manny will make),” said Roach, when reminded that in one of the workouts with Antillon, Pacquiao allowed his sparmate to pound away as though he was a punching bag.

“He’s getting bored that’s why he does that,” said Roach, noting however that Pacquiao will be on his guard next week with the arrival of Mike Alvarado, an unbeaten junior-welter from Denver, Colorado.

Alvarado holds a 25-0 record with 18 knockouts and is fighting underneath the Pacquiao-Hatton show.

Roach stressed that Pacquiao just cannot elect to stay stationary against Hatton, who thrives against fighters who stand still and trade at close range.

Under Roach’s plans, Pacquiao will go eight rounds on Saturday “then go nine rounds next and ten rounds before going 12 rounds (sometime in the third week of this month).”

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Fight will be short and sweet

MANILA, Philippines - Those hoping for a long, bitter struggle between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton on May 2 won’t get it.

“It’s going to be short and sweet,” said Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, during Monday’s red-carpet meeting between the two great boxers and their trash-talking handlers in Hollywood.

Roach said it could or should be over in three rounds.

“I think it’s going to be the best three rounds you’ve ever seen. Ricky is going to force the action and Manny is going to respond to it. But Manny is going to get him early and I believe he will knock him out in the early rounds.”

Even Mark Wahlberg, the rapper, actor, endorser and producer rolled into one said during the press conference he doesn’t expect the fight to last the distance.

The 38-year-old celebrity, who ran a series of underwear ads for Calvin Klein before he became a movie star, is Roach’s friend, and is obviously rooting for Pacquiao.

“Freddie is the best,” said Wahlberg who visited Pacquiao at the Wild Card Gym as the latter trained for his Oscar dela Hoya fight last December.

“We know what he did to Dela Hoya and he’s going to do the same to Hatton. Obviously, the winner will fight Floyd Mayweather (Jr.),” he said in a video clip posted on the net by Lance Pugmire of the LA Times.

The world is waiting for that Pacquiao-Mayweather fight although Bob Arum, the promoter of the Pinoy icon, and Roach are not too keen on fighting the ex-pound-for-pound champion.

But Pacquiao could be open to anything.

“For me – if I’m Floyd – I would fight a tune-up fight and then fight me,” Pacquiao told FanHouse.com. “That’s for me, but I don’t know what his plan is. He might want to fight me right away.”

“I think he’s going to fight again. He’s not really retired,” added Pacquiao of the American who retired last year undefeated in 39 fights.

During the same press conference, Roach traded jabs with Hatton’s trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr.

“Pacquaio’s going to go from first class to coach, because of the Roach,” said Mayweather Sr., so flamboyant he can move around in a pink suit.

Then, according to reports, chants of “Man-ny! Man-ny!” filled the room, and Pacquiao, as if on cue, took the microphone by saying “I fight for freedom. I fight for Scotland” the way it was delivered by actor Mel Gibson in his epic film “Braveheart.”

“They’ve got Roach in the Hall of Fame (when) he should be in the Hall of Shame,” added Mayweather Sr.

Roach didn’t take it sitting down.

“Floyd can read some good poems that’s all he’s good at that I know of. What has Floyd Senior achieved? His son’s a natural-born fighter. His brother, Roger, trained him anyway. Floyd never trained his son for a world title fight. He tells me he’s the greatest but what has he done? He trained Oscar De La Hoya after Oscar has already won four world titles. Floyd is a legend in his own mind,” said Roach on the TimesOnline.


source:philstar.com

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Pacquiao to use footwork vs. Hatton

By Jun Medina, Special Correspondent

Good footwork is a key element of Manny Pacquiao’s successful boxing career, a tool he used to advantage in pummeling to submission the bigger and stronger Oscar De La Hoya in their December 6 fight.

It’s a device he would need to employ again to the hilt when he tangles with British junior welterweight star Ricky Hatton in their coming May 2 bout, according to his renowned trainer Freddie Roach.

Nigel Collins, editor-in-chief of The Ring Magazine, observed that the signature move Pacquiao used in his “Dream Match” against De La Hoya carried the Filipino icon to his upset victory by “largely nullifying Oscar’s biggest weapon, his concussive left hook.”

“Pacquiao would step in quickly, deliver a rapid combination, pivot to his right, bend at the knee, and duck low,” Collins, a veteran boxing writer, wrote in his article “The Lost Art of Footwork” in the April issue of The Ring.

It is a routine that Pacquiao mastered at training camp and employed to near perfection during the fight, and handed De La Hoya, boxing’s biggest draw, his worst beating in his entire career.

“We developed that move especially to take away Oscar’s bread-and-butter [left hook] and work on it throughout camp,” said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainor for more than eight years. “Footwork is something of a lost art, but it was the key to Manny’s victory over Oscar.”

Collins observed that the top four boxers in The Ring’s current pound-for-pound ratings—Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins—are all known for employing intelligent footwork.

“Overlooked, misunderstood, and difficult to master, footwork [and its co-joined twin, balance] has always been and remains and remains the hallmark of the great fighter down throughout the generations,” said Collins, a keen student of The Sweet Science.

He said that among the iconic heavyweights, Jim Corbett, Jack Johnson, Gene Tunney, Joe Walcott, Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes were all gifted hoofers.

Collins said good movement in the ring also played a major role in the success of fighters not normally associated with fancy legworks, noting how the likes of Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, or better yet, Roberto Duran cut off the ring in their prime.

Among active fighters, Collins mentioned the ageless Bernard Hopkins, who practically gave unbeaten middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik a boxing clinic using excellent footwork.

“It’s all about footwork, footwork and balance. They’re together,” Hopkins told Collins.

Hopkins said that “70 percent to 80 percent of winning a fight is based on positioning,” adding that it is proper footwork that allows a fighter to be in position to attack or defend himself.

Hopkins said the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard both had great footwork, a quality that helped earn them their status as best among the elite boxing greats in the history of the sport.

According to Collins footwork has always been a part of the development of boxing since the time of the bare-knuckle prizefighters of the 18th and 19th century.

“Footwork has always been the shifting foundation upon which boxing excellence is built,” Collins said.

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Freddie Roach: “If Hatton goes toe-to-toe with Manny he’ll get knocked out!”

By FightFan.com Staff (20-Feb-2009)

Photo: Ace Freeman

FF: Freddie, what do you think about the style match up with Manny set to face Ricky Hatton?

FR: It’s great. You know Ricky comes to fight. He’s young, he’s vibrant, and he loves to fight. He believes in himself and he’s a tough guy. It’s going to be a very competitive fight and I think it’s a good style match up for Manny and I. Manny does very well with guys who come forward like Hatton does. It’s definitely a great match up… but we’re going to knock him out.

Freddie Roach on Pacquiao vs. Hatton:

FF: Freddie now that the fight is set, and Manny Pacquiao will face Ricky Hatton… can you give us your thoughts on the style match up in this fight?

FR: It’s great. You know Ricky comes to fight. He’s young, he’s vibrant, and he loves to fight. He believes in himself and he’s a tough guy. It’s going to be a very competitive fight and I think it’s a good style match up for Manny and I. Manny does very well with guys who come forward like Hatton does. It’s definitely a great match up.

FF: Hatton is a very strong fighter. How will Manny deal with that strength?

FR: We’re not going to deal with his strength. We’re not going to fight him on the inside. We’re going to fight smart and box this guy. I don’t think Hatton’s strength will come in to play in this fight.

FF: Ricky really likes to work out of the clinch and makes things very physical. Will Manny’s footwork be a big asset in this fight to counter act that?

FR: Of course. You know we’re planning on dealing with it. We’re not going to rely on the referee or anything like that. We will definitely have an answer for it.

FF:How would you rate Hatton’s power? He is a strong guy and a strong puncher. Is there any concern there, maybe with Hatton’s body punching?

FR: He’s a decent puncher and he’s very good with attacking to the body. He’s a good puncher but we’re not going to stand in front of this guy and exchange with him. We’re going to fight a smart fight like we did with Oscar.

FF: If there are moments where they end up standing toe-to-toe do you like Manny’s chances even though it might not be the smartest thing to do?

FR: If Hatton stands toe-to-toe with us, we’ll knock him out.

FF:Hatton is a younger guy, very strong… do you think he can still pull the trigger?

FR: Oh yea… but I also don’t think he’s the same fighter he was before he lost to Mayweather. I think the Mayweather fight took something out of him and that he looked pretty shaky in the Lazcano fight. He did look very good in the Malignaggi fight, but Paulie looked really bad in that fight for some reason. We’re not that style of fighter though.

I’ve been watching tape of Ricky, I’ve studied the Lazcano fight and I have his last ten bouts on video. We’ll study him thoroughly and see what kind of game plan we can come up with. My new assistant Michael Moorer (former world heavyweight champion) is going to help with training Manny for this fight. We should be okay.

FF:Where do you think Hatton ranks up with the other fighters Manny has faced?

FR: He’s definitely up there… you know the top three guys were probably Morales, Marquez and Oscar and Ricky’s a world champion and that doesn’t happen by accident. Ricky’s a tough guy who likes to fight - and we like to fight - so it should be good.

FF:Did you notice any improvements with Hatton training under Mayweather Sr.?

FR: Oh yes! Tremendous improvements! (Laughs) Give me a break!

FF:I thought if anything else he looked a lot more like his old self…

FR: No comment.

FF:Okay… moving right along. What weight do you want to see Manny enter the ring at for this fight?

FR: The contracted weight for the fight is 140, and I’d like to see Manny at 147 in the ring on fight night.

FF:We’re going to put you on the spot. What’s the prediction for this fight?

FR: We’ll knock Hatton out.

FF:Freddie as always, thanks for this.

FR: My pleasure.

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Inevitable war of words in Pacquiao-Hatton superfight

Boxing's pound-for-pound No 1 Manny Pacquiao has hit back at Lee Beard's comments that Pacman "makes mistakes" in the ring, that there are flaws in the great Filipino's technique, and that Beard, Floyd Mayweather Sr and essentially, Ricky Hatton, will attempt to expose them come fight night on May 2.

"Let your ward train hard and good luck come fight night" was Pacman's response.

Part of the cut and thrust of a superfight are the intricacies, the discussions of styles, how they will meet, the records, the mutual opponents. One of the great aspects to this contest is that there are no mutual opponents, and that Pacquiao has never fought at 140lbs.

It has, and is generating, at times, fairly vitriolic debate. (Perhaps that is only to be expected with arguably two of the world's most popular boxers each with their own fervent following meeting in the square ring).

They say Pacquiao is more dangerous when riled. Like a coiled cobra. And that the more silent he is, the more dangerous he becomes. Humble men are often that way. There are similarities with Hatton. Focus is his key. He lost it against Mayweather. And I'm talking about the build-up in fight week here. So many fans, so much adrenalin. The finger across the throat stuff...just not Hatton.

It was good to see Hatton - back in light training this week - calm and collected about his fight with Pacquiao. And see him complimenting his opponent. "It's going to be an outstanding fight. None of us are ever in a dull fight. I don't think I've ever seen Manny in a boring fight. If I wasn't fighting Manny, I think I'd be a fan of him because he's always in outstanding fights." I assume the same will come from Pacquiao. Seeing him at Freddie Roach's gym it is clear that he lets his work ethic do the talking.

However, the likelihood is that Mayweather will get under the skin of the opposing camp for this fight, that Freddie Roach will bite, because the two have history. Beard also seems to have adopted the stance that he, too, will speak out and be vocal.

The diverse trainer-fighter relationships will have a bearing on this fight. They are stark in contrast.

Roach on Pacquiao: "Manny is like a son to me, he's more than just my fighter."

Mayweather on Hatton: "I will need more than a few weeks to teach him to box like my son, but you are going to see a different Ricky Hatton come fight night." I do not buy the arguments that Hatton can only brawl. I have watched almost all his fights, and there was a marked improvement in his fitness, movement and ring generalship against Paulie Malignaggi, who admittedly, was not a heavy puncher.

But criticism of Hatton's hit-and-hold tactics do not hold water. What he does, the way he fights, is within the rules. Look at the wily skills of Bernard Hopkins in defence. I believe we should admire fighters for their survival instincts.

One of the keys to the outcome of the fistic meeting between Pacquiao and Hatton may lie in whether Hatton can get Pacquiao onto the ropes, or into corners, to nullify his great lateral, bouncing, movement, which forms part of his great defence, honed and developed under Roach.

Long before we get to see these things, however, we are likely to have a protracted war of words between the camps. It just seems inevitable. What are the odds on Mayweather throwing the first verbal punch ? Odds-on.

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