Hatton's lookout/Steven Purugganan's rock star schedule

Once again, traffic stops in the Philippines and many places around the world when Manny Pacquiao faces Ricky Hatton tomorow. Each Pacquiao fight seems to get bigger and bigger, and the stakes are particularly high here, considering that Pacquiao’s clock is ticking, with the roadblock of the next elections barely a year away. For Ricky Hatton, it is a chance at redemption, to prove that he is a changed man, and a better boxer than previously thought, not just a one-dimensional beer drinker from the United Kingdom.

Manny Pacquiao, for his part, has fought in a different weight class in each of his last three fights. After a split decision win to seize Juan Manuel Marquez’s WBC super featherweight title, he moved up to TKO WBC lightweight champ and human iceberg David Diaz in nine rounds. After that, he outclassed Oscar dela Hoya over eight rounds before dilly-dallying and signing on to face Hatton.

Thirteen of Pacquiao’s last 14 opponents have been of Hispanic extraction. This is actually a rare time that Pacquiao is heavy enough to face a European rival, since they mostly compete in higher weight classes. Pacman has not lost since the first Erik Morales fight in March of 2005. But of course, a lot has changed since Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza have joined Team Pacquiao. The evolution has been quicker. Pacquiao now has power in both left and right, his footwork is superb, and, against a weakened Golden Boy hiding an injury, his patient and willingness to use the ring was a big factor.

Hatton himself has been tapering off somewhat as of late. He knocked out 10 of his first 13 opponents from 1997 to 1999 and was fighting more frequently. As the stakes got higher and the opposition got better, the Hitman had to get stronger, and not always with the success he would have wanted. After a string of knockouts up to 2005, Hatton KO’d Jose Luis Castillo in 2007, and Paul Malignaggi in his most recent fight last November, two knockouts in six fights. This, of course, includes the loss to Floyd Mayweather, only the fourth time in 46 fights that Hatton moved up beyond his comfort zone of 140 pounds.

What will happen tomorrow? By all indications, Hatton will try to rush Pacquiao, thinking he will be the stronger of the two. Pacquiao will use his quickness and his excellent jab to pepper Hatton and frustrate him in the early going. Hatton would benefit more from an early knockout, since between the two, Pacquiao has always been the better-conditioned boxer. If Hatton comes into the ring heavier, he may have problems nailing Pacquiao.

Reports from inside Pacquiao’s camp reveal that he has been relentlessly practicing the left hook to the body, testing a weak point that Freddie Roach has spotted in the Hitman. Left hook, right to the head. When Manny hammers Hatton, his guard will drop, leaving his jaw exposed. Hatton will have to display a great amount of footwork to work the ring and keep Pacquiao from dancing around him.

Towards the middle rounds, when some of the sting has been taken out of Hatton’s punches, expect Pacquiao to engage more, looking out for possible dirty tricks from his opponent. Hatton is a veteran fighter, and needs this fight more than Pacquiao. At some point, he will get desperate, perhaps dirty. Pacquiao musn’t let his focus be thrown off by those tactics.

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Filipino world champion sport stacker Steven Purugganan’s got a rock-star schedule. After appearing in the US edition of Time Magazine, he became the first sport stacker in history to lay claim to all five of the sport’s world records. He also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, and did several magazine interviews.

His latest thrill was an invitation to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in Los Angeles. But as his mother Marivic reveals, the flight home was a scary series of take-offs and landings.

“What should have been a fairly straightforward flight from Los Angeles to North Carolina to Massachusetts turned into four exhausting legs – four take-offs and four landings in a 17-hour span,” Marivic told The STAR in an e-mail. “When the pilot announces mid-flight that “we lost our radar to navigate our way through the thunderstorms ahead,” then you don’t have a choice but to divert to the nearest hub (Phoenix) in the wee hours of the morning. Ultimately, we made it home with more connections than it took us to travel from Manila to Massachusetts!”

Steven’s consolation comes from the fun time he had with Ellen, and guest Vanessa Hudgens, both of whom he taught how to stack. In the end, he was rewarded with grandstand tickets to any Boston Red Sox game (except against the Yankees).

This weekend, Steven and Marivic are in Boston to tape Discovery Channel’s “Time Warp,” which uses high-speed photography to slow down natural events. After that, the little Pinoy whiz makes an appearance on The CBS Early Show, and adds a few more magazine interviews to his resume. No rest for the weary.