PacMan's Corner

[Fusarium_jimini]

ROACH HAILS 'UNBELIEVABLE' PACQUIAO

 

By Simon Lewis, PA Sport, Las Vegas

 

Trainer of the year Freddie Roach believes Manny Pacquiao is at the peak of his powers and capable of beating anyone following his demolition of Ricky Hatton.

 

Roach had long predicted an early end to their light-welterweight showdown having worked with Filipino superstar and pound-for-pound champion Pacquiao for eight years and studied Hatton long and hard on tape.

 

That belief was proven correct at the MGM Grand Garden Arena where Pacquiao scored the 49th victory of his 55-fight career with his 37th knockout, a hammering left hook that had Hatton out cold before he hit the canvas at the end of the second round.

 

"Manny's unbelievable," Roach said. "He makes me look good. He's the best fighter in the world and the reason I'm the best trainer in the world.

 

"Manny's in his prime right now. He's on top of his game. Anyone in the world, he can beat them all."

 

Pacquiao, 30, is now being linked with a string of top-level stars as potential opponents after successive box-office smash-hits with victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton.

 

Yet Roach poured cold water on a potential clash with American Floyd Mayweather Jr, who earlier yesterday confirmed his return to the ring after a 16-month retirement with a July 18 fight against Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez.

 

"Mayweather, he just had to wait one day and he could have fought Manny," Roach said, referring to the American's announcement. "I think he's afraid of Manny.

 

"He made the fight maybe not happen. We're not going to wait for him. There are other great fighters out there."

 

Roach also addressed the likelihood of his man facing welterweight champions Shane Mosley (WBA) and Miguel Angel Cotto (WBO).

 

"If Cotto wants to come down a few pounds or if Shane Mosley wants to come down a few pounds, we can make that happen," he said.

 

Despite having defeated De La Hoya at welterweight last December, both Pacquiao and Roach agree that the fighter is most comfortable at light-welterweight, having just taken Hatton's IBO and Ring Magazine titles.

 

"I'm very comfortable at 140 pounds," Pacquiao said. "You could see it in my performance; I want to stay there."

 

Pacquiao began his professional career in 1995 at 106 pounds, winning five world titles from flyweight up.

 

He said: "Before the fight, a lot of people think Ricky Hatton's bigger than me but I didn't put that in my mind.

 

"I still believe that my body's bigger than Ricky. But with respect, he's still a good fighter."

 

While Hatton was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, Pacquiao admitted his knockout blow had left him feeling sore

 

"I believe it was a very hard punch," he said. "My hand still hurts."

[Fusarium_jimini]

Pacquiao proves one point, Mayweather Jr. wants to see if he can do it again

 

By Brett Okamoto (not the famous condom brand, hehehe)-Las Vegas sun

 

Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired from boxing 16 months ago saying he had nothing left to prove.

 

Well he does now.

 

If Mayweather planned to steal the spotlight away from Manny Pacquiao Saturday by announcing his return to ring, that ruse was ruined before the second round even ended in Pacquiao’s megafight with Ricky Hatton.

 

With one perfect punch, the “Pac-Man” flattened Hatton, cemented his already rock-solid legacy, and made the capacity crowd inside the Grand Garden Arena and boxing fans worldwide wonder what fighter can challenge the pound-for-pound king.

 

The “Pretty Boy” piped up.

 

"If he wins tonight, don't be all shocked like, 'Oh, ah, he done this, he done that,'" said Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs), at his news conference to announce he will be fighting Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 at the MGM Grand.

 

“Cause guess what? I beat (Hatton) when he was undefeated. Pacquiao beat Oscar, it don't matter. Going down to 147 pounds was too much for (De La Hoya), he was dead after the first round. I also think that Marquez beat him twice. When you talk boxing, you talk Floyd Mayweather.”

 

Not if you’re Top Rank chief Bob Arum.

 

“You are going to be the greatest fighter that ever lived," Arum told Pacquiao after the fight.

 

While it will take a few more TKOs for that distinction, the Filipino superstar certainly added to his legacy Saturday by claiming the IBO and Ring Magazine junior welterweight title.

 

The belt ties Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) with Oscar De La Hoya as the only fighters to win titles in six weight divisions, but more importantly makes him the first boxer in history to add a fourth lineal championship.

 

Fans no doubt would love to see a match-up between the current pound-for-pound king and the previous one, but Arum told Mayweather to be careful what he wished for.

 

"Mayweather, if he wants a piece of the little Filipino, just be my guest,” Arum said.

 

Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach questioned Mayweather’s timing for the announcement, if he truly wanted a bout with Pacquiao.

 

"Mayweather could have fought Manny Pacquiao, he just needed to wait one more day," Roach said.

 

"I think he's scared of Manny. He chose Marquez and we're not just going to wait around, I like to keep Manny busy. If Miguel Cotto wants to come down a few pounds, if Shane Mosley wants to come down a few pounds, we can make that happen."

 

Mosley has already expressed desire to take on the winner of Saturday's fight.

 

Apparently, seeing Pacquiao destroy Hatton didn't scare off the WBA welterweight champion.

 

"I like to put my skills to the test, I started with Antonio Margarito and now if I had the chance to fight Pacquiao that would be great," Mosley said.

 

"I tell him in person, let's do it at 147. You want the welterweight title, let's do it and see what happens."

 

Trying to bait a man with six world titles by flashing your belt might not be the best strategy, considering Roach believes Pacquiao’s proved that point time and time again.

 

Still, if Mosley is willing to take the fight at a lighter weight, he may be able to get into talks with Pacquiao before Mayweather Jr. does.

 

"As a fan, I'd like to see him fight Mosley," said Roach, when asked to pick between the two.

 

"The Mayweather fight may not happen because we don't want to wait for him. Mosley is more dangerous, they both like to fight and his power is dangerous. But Manny is the best, anyone in the world, he can beat all of them."

 

Roach also said he wouldn't be opposed to a third fight with Marquez, who is coming off back-to-back TKOs over Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz, if he were to defeat Mayweather in July, but added, "I'd love to see that happen, but it most likely won't."

 

Yet another variable in this plot is that Pacquiao is returning to the Philippines this summer to shoot a movie.

 

If Pacquiao made one thing clear in the cloud of possibilities, he likes fighting at 140 pounds. Much like he proved in his destruction of De La Hoya, Pacquiao wasn't slowed by the leap in weight, and was even more powerful.

 

"I'm very comfortable at 140 pounds," Pacquiao said. "You can see that by my performance tonight. I think I'm very strong at 140 pounds and I want to stay there."

 

Before Saturday, Roach had said that he only wanted to watch Pacquiao fight two more fights before retiring.

 

The former pro stuck to that number Saturday, but admitted that it was personally tough for him to hang up the gloves. But Roach said Pacquiao, and Hatton, have made lots of money and have their health, so they “don’t need this anymore.”

 

If that sentiment is strong and Pacquiao stays true to his plan of becoming a political official in his native Philippines, then that leaves a small window for Mayweather to secure a bout with him — which he will probably have to do to keep regarding himself as the sport’s best.

 

Or does he?

 

“I am the king and no one has taken my crown,” Mayweather said. “Some day someone might shut my mouth, but right now I am going to talk.”

 

On Saturday, Pacquiao certainly proved his claim to the throne.

[Fusarium_jimini]

Pacquiao's hook all wrong for Hatton

 

Evening Standard UK

 

Manny Pacquiao believes Ricky Hatton did not know what had hit him as he unleashed a devastating right hook to win by a second-round knock-out in their light-welterweight fight in Las Vegas.

 

The Filipino dominated what proved to be a short fight as he floored Hatton three times, eventually leaving the Mancunian needing medical attention in the ring before he walked away under his own steam.

 

"In the first round, I expected my right hook is going to be dangerous for him because he's open when he's coming towards me," Pacquiao said on Radio Five Live.

 

"He's very surprised because I have a new right hook."

 

It was, however, a trademark left hook that eventually felled Hatton for the final time, and there was initial concern as Hatton lay flattened in the centre of the ring.

 

Pacquiao, who went to his corner to mutter a prayer after the shot, was clearly thinking of Hatton as he gave his post-fight interview with medical treatment still being given to the defeated man.

 

"I'm always doing my job in the ring, doing my best to make people happy," he said. "It's nothing personal for me, I'm just doing my job."

 

Pacquiao has claimed Hatton's IBO and Ring Magazine light-welterweight title belts.

 

Asked whether he might want a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr, who announced he was coming out of retirement, Pacquiao said would take on anyone.

 

"I can fight anybody, it will depend on my promoters," he said. "I'm just a fighter, doing my job, training and keeping at 100%."

Edited May 3, 2009 by Fusarium_jimini

[Fusarium_jimini]

PACQUIAO WATCH: Manny in devastating KO win

 

By Edwin G. Espejo

PhilBoxing.com

 

FILIPINO beakbuster Manny Pacquiao broke many Englishmen’s hearts by dealing their countryman his most devastating defeat with a spectacular second round knockout to wrest the Ring Magazine’s welterweight crown from the kid from Manchester Ricky Hatton.

 

The end came via a powerful left hook late in the second round which sent Hatton crashing into his back. Referee Kenny Bayless immediately waived his hands up in the air to end the fight.

 

Hatton lay motionless for several minutes, his eyes rolling over as his handlers tried to revive him.

 

Pacquiao was a favorite coming into the fight but many never expected the bout to end so soon.

 

The Filipino boxing sensation made it clear right in the first round that it would be a short and pitiful night for Hatton.

 

The man from Manchester tried to establish his rhythm by crowding Pacquiao at the opening bell and throwing his vaunted body punches but Manny deftly danced out of harm’s way and landed the first telling blow with a thundering right hook in the early going which untracked Hatton.

 

He would mix up his punches with left straights.

 

With barley 40 seconds left in the first canto, Manny uncorked a powerful right hook off a missed jab from Hatton.

 

It sent Hatton on all fours with his forehead touching the canvass.

 

Hatton rose at the count of eight but a worried face was splashed all over the television.

 

Manny chased him and Hatton tried to answer back.

 

But with 12 seconds left, a one-two combo attack capped by a signature left straight from Manny sent Hatton crashing down into his own corner with just the lower rung of the ring preventing his head from touching the canvass.

 

Referee Bayless again gave Hatton the mandatory eight count and the two trade punches when the bell sounded for the first round.

 

Ricky Hatton was still visibly hurting during the break as he kept nodding to the advices from his corner men.

 

He was again in his element at the beginning of the second round and tried to lure Manny into a phone booth brawl.

 

But it was not meant to be. Manny wisely hugged Hatton while covering his face with his left hand.

 

Then the climactic ending came.

 

A right jab set up Hatton for a left straight that looked like a hybrid of a left hook.

 

Hatton fell on the canvass with a big thud like the proverbial London Bridge.

 

With the win, Manny joined the rarefied circle of boxing greats who won world titles in at least five different weight categories.

 

Pacquiao, who started as a light flyweight, had captured world crowns in the flyweight, superbantamweight, super featherweight, lightweight in addition to the welterweight title he wrested from Hatton.

 

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum proclaimed Pacquiao as “the greatest fighter to have ever lived.”

 

That may be a little too early but with only a megafight with former world pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. looming in the horizon as a stumbling block to that accolade, Manny’s greatness as one of the most devastating punchers in modern times is now cemented and etched in the hallowed walls of Las Vegas, the Mecca of world class boxing.

 

Mayweather has signified his interest to fight the winner of the Pacquiao-Hatton bout.

 

That fight could come in the fall when Mayweather Jr. shall already have his tune up fight in the summer.

 

It was the first time I watched Manny’s fight live on cable outside of General Santos City.

 

In Cagayan de Oro City, virtually all villages in the heart of the city set up widescreen viewings – for free – for residents in their respective areas.

 

At the square center of Cogon public market four big television sets were already mounted as early as 6:00 in allowing marketgoers unhampered view from four sides.

 

Betting was heavy in favor of Pacquiao ending the fight as early as the third round.

 

When the first two knockdowns were registered against Hatton in the first round, audiences already saw the end coming just as long-time Pacquiao coach Freddie Roach correctly predicted.

 

The Englishman now knows what others have known before him.

 

That Manny’s speed is like no other and that while Manny may miss the bullseye on the dartboard inside Hatton’s pubhouse, his punches are as good as a ‘bulls out’ in a 501 game of darts.

 

That Hatton only lasted two rounds against Manny should sent a message across the boxing world that a new king has emerged in the world of boxing.

 

That his win over Oscar de la Hoya was by no means a fluke.

 

That Manny ably filled up the void left behind by de la Hoya who chose to retire after being handed out his most lopsided loss by the Filipino puncher-slugger turned into sweet-punching executioner.

 

The mantle has been passed and it fitted to a T with Manny’s recent decisively and clinical conquest of Hatton.

[agentjackbauer]

The underlined portion is the real accomplishment. A lineal champ is defined simply as the man who beat the man beat the man who beat the man who beat the man... i.e. Pac is (still) the lineal champ at (super) featherweight since he beat the then lineal featherweight champ Barrera, who had just beaten Morales (MAB-Morales III) at super featherweight.

 

Pacquiao proves one point, Mayweather Jr. wants to see if he can do it again

 

By Brett Okamoto (not the famous condom brand, hehehe)-Las Vegas sun

 

Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired from boxing 16 months ago saying he had nothing left to prove.

 

Well he does now.

 

 

The belt ties Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) with Oscar De La Hoya as the only fighters to win titles in six weight divisions, but more importantly makes him the first boxer in history to add a fourth lineal championship.

 

Fans no doubt would love to see a match-up between the current pound-for-pound king and the previous one, but Arum told Mayweather to be careful what he wished for.

 

 

On Saturday, Pacquiao certainly proved his claim to the throne.

Edited May 3, 2009 by agentjackbauer

[Fusarium_jimini]

I believe it was a very hard punch - Pacquiao

 

By Kieran Mulvaney- IOL.co.uk

 

Las Vegas - Manny Pacquiao admitted his hand was still feeling a little bruised two hours after a booming left hook knocked out Britain's Ricky Hatton in the second round of their eagerly awaited showdown on Saturday.

 

The Filipino challenger claimed the IBO light-welterweight title after sending Hatton sprawling to the canvas twice in the opening round before knocking him out cold with one second remaining in the next.

 

"I believe it was a very hard punch," Pacquiao told reporters after improving his career record to 49-3-2 with 37 knockouts. "My hand still hurts."

 

Hatton's assistant trainer Lee Beard said: "There was nothing Ricky could do. He got caught with a few good shots, he got back up and then obviously he got caught with that one big shot at the end."

 

Although Pacquiao was widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Hatton was believed to hold a size advantage at his natural weight of 140 pounds in a division where he had never previously lost.

 

However, Pacquiao always believed he would prove to be the stronger man.

 

"Before the fight, a lot of people think Ricky Hatton's bigger than me but I didn't put that in my mind," said the 30-year-old, who weighed only 106 pounds on his professional debut.

 

"I still believe that my body's bigger than Ricky. But with respect, he's still a good fighter."

 

Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum applauded the Filipino's performance as "astounding" after his man had competed for only the third time above the super featherweight division.

 

"This kid improves with every single fight," Arum said. "He's doing things he wasn't doing two or three years ago.

 

"His defence is now tremendous. His reflexes are tremendous. I have never seen any fighter combine the speed and the explosive power that he does."

 

"I told Ricky Hatton not to be discouraged," Arum added. "There are plenty of people out there for him to fight. Nobody in the world can beat this little Filipino."

 

Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach agreed.

 

"Manny's unbelievable," he said. "He makes me look good. He's the best fighter in the world. He's in his prime right now. He's on top of his game. Anyone in the world, he can beat."

 

Asked about the possibility of a clash with American Floyd Mayweather Jr, who announced earlier on Saturday he would return from retirement to fight Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18, Roach sounded doubtful.

 

He suggested instead future matchups with WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley and WBO holder Miguel Cotto.

 

"I think he (Mayweather) is scared of Pacquiao," Roach said. "If Cotto wants to come down a few pounds or if Shane Mosley wants to come down a few pounds, we can make that happen."

[uaeboy25]

mayweather sr. should go to home for the aged, keep himself busy by writing poetry. he should retire, because he is suffering from sudden memory lost, he forgot the fight this day. wehehe

[Fusarium_jimini]

peeps, last article posted up.. yung iba kasi prang kopyahan na lang, hehehe..congrats MP! (hindi massage parlor, hehehe)..

 

congrats rin kay Freddie "the joker" ...for making a big joke out of Hatton et. al...especially Gayweather Sr...

 

nga pala:

 

Hitman's GF - hot Brit! :boo:

 

Pacman's Jinkee - hot MILF! :evil:

 

peace!

[djrs]

"I would suggest he retire," Mayweather Senior said. "At the end of the day it's his decision. He tried twice. He failed twice. He lost to my son, and to lose to someone below that [Pacquiao], it's time to leave the ring."

 

Below UGLYBOY FLOYD? Gayweather's are all GAYS..

 

ilang boxer na ang iniwasan nila?

 

si Dela hoya Retired dahil kay pacman... badly beaten! Floyd: Split decision pa kay Golden boy!

 

pacman to Hatton 2KD 1 devastating KO 2nd round! Floyd: 10th round KO with 1 KD.

 

and delahoya is in good condition...

 

Hatton is in great condition...

 

so mas lame ang panalo ni UGLYBOY!

[uaeboy25]

sabi nga nila mas malakas si delahoya kay hatton. since nde gumulong si delahoya sa 1st round ambush ng left and right hook ni pacman. let mayweather jr out.

 

parang suntukan sa kalye.

 

ayaw labanan ni pacman si mayweather sr. kasi senior citizen na eh(excuse sa ilang kaso), anak na lang ni floyd sr. ang hahamunin ni pacman. hahaha

[generalz]

Ganda nanaman ng stage show sa boxing....

[a4techy]

meron p[o bang link ng 24/7 nilang 2?t.i.a^^

[tagalinis]

I think it's time Hatton change his tattoo from "Hitman" to "$hitman."

 

Pft.

 

Pacman was just awesome. He looked confident and ready to fight when he was introduced. ^__^ Galing!

or to 'Hit Me'!!!!

[gullible]

Anyone among MP's sparemates would have done a better job than Hatton. What Ricky did was totally disappointing from a boxing fan's point of view. What did he do for the past 12 weeks training hard for this fight? Only to go down in less than 6 minutes.

[howarddeduct]

^He trained hard, by drinking hard beverages. :evil:

 

Blitzkrieg, shock and awe, iyon ang nangyari kahapon.