Pacquiao begins training camp for Hatton

By Doug Fischer

After a well-deserved vacation, the Fighter of the Year for 2008 returned to work on Wednesday.

Manny Pacquiao, coming off a banner year, reported to the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif., for the first day of training camp for his first fight of 2009 – a May 2 challenge to RING junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton.

Pacquiao and head trainer Freddie Roach, owner of the famous boxing gym, both arrived on Tuesday after spending the weekend in the UK to take part in the mega-fight’s kick-off media events that took place in Hatton’s hometown of Manchester, England.

Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 knockouts) and Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) have arguably the largest international followings in the sport, but one would assume that the 140-pound champ would be the overwhelming crowd favorite in Manchester. read more

Filed under: Battle of East and West, Floyd Mayweather, Freddie Roach, Golden Boy, HBO, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao, MGM Grand, Pacman vs. Hitman, Pacquiao vs. Hatton, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Ricky Hatton, top rank promotions

RICKY HATTON AND MANNY PACQUIAO QUOTES FROM THE U.K.

fighthype.com

During a blistering two-day U.K. media tour, superstars Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Ricky “Hitman” Hatton set the tone for their world junior welterweight “The Battle of East and West” championship set for Saturday, May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View.  The fighters started in Hatton's hometown of Manchester and finished yesterday in London.  They were joined by their respective trainers Freddie Roach and Floyd Mayweather, Sr, as well as US-based promoters Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.  Below is a sampling of quotes from the tour. read more

Filed under: Battle of East and West, Floyd Mayweather, Freddie Roach, Golden Boy, HBO, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Ricky Hatton, top rank promotions

Hatton warns Pacman: “I’m too big for you!”

By FightFan

The British press tour to promote Manny Pacquiao’s May 2 fight against Ricky Hatton continued today with ‘The Hitman’ issuing a stern warning to ‘The Pacman’.
At their Monday press conference, Ricky Hatton warned Manny Pacquiao “…..Manny, I want that pound-for-pound title from you. I have never been beaten at 10 stones (140 pounds) which is my best weight when I go into the ring. You know I’m just too big for you.”

Pacquiao told reporters afterwards “…I’m not fighting ‘big.’ I’m in a fight against a fighter who believes in himself. Now it is a matter of who trains harder and who has more speed. I plan to train harder than I did for the De La Hoya fight and I believe I have more speed.” read more

Filed under: Battle of East and West, Floyd Mayweather, Freddie Roach, Golden Boy, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Ricky Hatton, top rank promotions

Top Rank Goes It Alone

By Thomas Hauser

Don’t get carried away by the title of this article. It would be a stretch to liken Bob Arum to Gary Cooper in High Noon. But in recent weeks, there has been talk of a new economic model in boxing. And Arum, in tandem with Todd DuBoef (his stepson and the president of Top Rank) might be charting a path out of the wilderness that the sweet science has wandered through in recent years.

Arum is an old-time promoter who is adapting to today’s economic and technological realities. “I don’t look back,” he says. “I’m seventy-eight years old. If I look back, I’d stumble and fall, so I just look forward.” Then he adds, “Boxing needs to move into a new era. We have to face realistically what’s going on in the world and present our product in different ways.” read more

Filed under: Bob Arum, Erik "El Terrible" Morales, Erik Morales, Floyd Mayweather, Freddie Roach, Kelly Pavlik, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Oscar de la Hoya, top rank promotions

Pacman fans steal Hatton show

By Stuart Brennan

FILIPINO fight fans turned Manchester into Manny-chester when their hero came face to face with Ricky Hatton.

Hatton and ther world pound-for-pound number one Manny Pacquiao smiled and laughed together as they met at the Trafford Centre today, to officially launch their super-fight on May 2 in Las Vegas.

It was intended as a fan rally, with Hatton fans showing up to cheer and sing for the Hitman – but around 200 Pacquiao fans stole the show. read more

Filed under: Battle of East and West, Floyd Mayweather, Freddie Roach, Golden Boy, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao, Philippines, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Ricky Hatton, top rank promotions

Pacquiao-Hatton Presser!

fightnews.com

6,000 fight fans, surprisingly about a third of them Filipino, turned out at the Trafford Centre in Manchester, England for a kick-off press conference for the May 2 ‘The East vs the West’ world title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky HAtton at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. “On May 2 I’ll be the new pound-for-pound king,” promised Hatton. “I’ve never been beaten at 10 stone (140lbs). This is my weight. This is where I do best. I promise all my fans I’ll win for Manchester!” Pacquiao wished Ricky good luck and stated “I’m going to win it for the Philippines. Ricky’s a very good fighter.” Pacman’s promoter Bob Arum promised victory “for all our Filipino brothers and sisters.” Manny will face Ricky in a darts competition at a pub in Manchester this afternoon.

Filed under: Battle of East and West, Floyd Mayweather, Freddie Roach, Golden Boy, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao, pacmonster, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Ricky Hatton, top rank promotions

British lambs to the slaughter

by Mark Gregory

Let me first of all preface this article by saying that ultimately boxing is all about levels, and that at Madison Square Garden on the 21st of February, Miguel Cotto demonstrated – as most expected – that he was a clear level or two above Manchester’s Michael Jennings. Let me also say that British fighters are no more prone to being the victims of one-sided ‘world’ title defeats than fighters of any other nationality.

The purpose of this article is to explore some potential reasons why the likes of Michael Jennings and Gary Lockett – the two most recent examples of Brits being outclassed in overseas ‘world’ title fights – find themselves beaten without even having the chance to steal a round or two from their more celebrated opponents. read more

Filed under: Antonio Margarito, Kelly Pavlik, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Ricky Hatton, shane mosley, Sugar Shane Mosley, top rank promotions

Cotto, Pavlik victorious in return, now what?

by Ricardo Lois

A pair of young stars coming off deflating losses, welterweight Miguel Cotto and middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, notched knockout victories Saturday night. Separated by 349 miles, Cotto outclassed chippy Brit Micheal Jennings via fifth round technical knockout at Madison Square Garden in New York City and Pavlik took nine rounds to make Marco Antonio Rubio call it a night on his stool in Youngstown, Ohio. read more

Filed under: Antonio Margarito, Golden Boy, Kelly Pavlik, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, shane mosley, top rank promotions

Bring on Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton, and Floyd Mayweather JR: The Options of Shane Mosley

By Gene Ramirez

Everything seemed to be working against him. Shane Mosley was in the middle of a divorce with his wife and manager Jin Mosley. Everyone was talking about him and the BALCO situation where he either knowingly or not took steroids before a big fight with Oscar. When you add the fact that Mosley did not look his best taking every second of twelve rounds to drop Ricardo Mayorga last September and Antonio Margarito was coming off the performance of his career against Miguel Cotto and it all added up to one likely ending. read more

Filed under: Antonio Margarito, Floyd Mayweather, Freddie Roach, Golden Boy, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, shane mosley, top rank promotions

Cotto Crushes Jennings in Five

By David Kolb

NEW YORK – In what turned out to be nothing more than an overhyped sparring session against an unproven and unknown Michael Jennings, Miguel Cotto pasted the Chorley, England product in five quick rounds at Madison Square Garden Saturday night.

Jennings, who was touted as a “top rated contender” by the publicists, proved to be nothing of the sort as he was crushed before the fight even hit the halfway point.

Cotto, who undoubtedly has had a myriad of emotions since losing to Antonio Margarito last year, looked like he had little trouble getting back in the ring after his career’s longest layoff. read more

Filed under: Bob Arum, Kelly Pavlik, Marco Antonio Rubio, Michael Jennings, Miguel Cotto, top rank promotions