MANILA, Philippines - Sa isang agresibong boksingerong kagaya ni Ricky Hatton nababagay ang istilo ni Manny Pacquiao.
Ito ang sinabi kahapon ni American trainer Freddie Roach sa press conference sa Imperial War Museum sa London bilang bahagi ng promotional tour para sa world light welterweight championship nina Pacquiao at Hatton sa Mayo 2 sa MGM Grand Garden Arena sa Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sa panayam ng Sky Sports, inaasahan ni Roach na mapapabagsak ng 30-anyos na si Pacquiao ang kaedad na si Hatton sa anumang bahagi ng kanilang 12-round fight.
“It will be a great fight in the first half but Manny will get to him in the later rounds and will knock him out at some point,” wika ni Roach. “Ricky is very resilient but his come-forward nature will walk him into some shots and that will get him out of there. He’s tailor made for us.”
Sa kabila ng paggiya ni trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr. kay Hatton sa panalo kay Paulie Malignaggi noong Nobyembre, mahina pa rin ang depensa ni “Hitman”, ayon kay Roach.
“Ricky talks about having worked on his defense and head movement but he is what he is. He’s been doing this for a long time. They’ll have a gameplan coming into the fight but after the first round he’ll go back to his natural style. That’s good for him in some ways because that’s the best shot he’s got at beating Manny. If he tries to outbox Manny and fights like Floyd teaches then he’ll lose,” ani Roach.
Naniniwala rin si Hatton na angkop ang kanyang porma sa istilo ni Pacquiao, ang tanging Asian fighter na nagkampeon sa apat na magkakaibang weight divisions.
“He commits himself with every punch, he puts all his eggs in one basket if you like,” wika ni Hatton sa Setanta.com. “He goes for it with every punch. The danger is if he hits you it will make your ears ring a bit. If you make him miss you can make him miss he tends to fall off balance because he’s commit himself so much.”
Kagaya ng inaasahan, pinaghahandaan na ni Hatton ang pagiging kaliwete ni Pacquiao.
“Billy Graham and I had a lot of success and nothing will ever take away from that but I never did southpaw pads before now, I did southpaw sparring but not pads,” sabi ni Hatton sa dati niyang trainer. I’ve been training for two weeks now and have been doing southpaw pads from day one with Lee Beard and Floyd. That’s going to stand me in good stead.”
Si Pacquiao, may 48-3-2 win-loss-draw ring record kasama ang 36 KOs, ang kasalukuyang ‘best pound-for-pound boxer’, habang si Hatton (45-1-0, 32 KOs) ang International Boxing Organization (IBO) light welterweight king sa ngayon. (Russell Cadayona)