Hitman vows to win over Pacman

LAS VEGAS – Britain’s Ricky Hatton confidently predicted victory in his IBO light-welterweight title defence against Filipino Manny Pacquiao after being welcomed by cheering fans in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Hatton has not lost at his natural weight of 140 pounds but conceded he would have faced an uphill task had he met the former four-division world champion one or two years earlier.
‘Three or four fights ago, Manny Pacquiao would have beaten me,’ Hatton told a small group of reporters as he sat on the edge of the ring in which he will fight the Filipino southpaw on Saturday.
‘I don’t think so now. I feel so much more relaxed because I’m boxing technically so much better. I’m jabbing and moving a lot better.
Hatton, 45-1 (32 KOs), attributes his increased confidence to improvements he has made since linking with American trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. late last year.
However he promised his fans he would never abandon the frenetic fighting style that has made him so popular in his native Manchester and elsewhere around the world.
‘Everyone seems to think that because of my new training camp I’ve turned into this twinkle-toed jab-and-move boxer,’ Hatton, nicknamed the Hitman, said. ‘But I haven’t. I’m still aggressive. I’m still as ferocious as ever.’
Hatton, who made a spectacular red carpet entrance at the MGM Grand Hotel in front of his jubilant supporters after arriving in Las Vegas, believes his ferocity and enhanced skills will surprise Pacquiao on Saturday.
‘He’s not fought anyone as ferocious and as powerful as me, and along with the technical side that I showed glimpses of in my last fight, I think it’s going to be enough,’ he predicted.
The hotly anticipated 12-round showdown will be the first at light-welterweight for Pacquiao, 48-3-2 (36 Kos).
Regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, the Filipino outclassed Oscar De La Hoya after eight rounds in December in his most recent bout – a welterweight contest.
Before that, Pacquiao, also nicknamed Pacman had only once before fought above 130 pounds, when he knocked out American David Diaz to win the WBC lightweight title in June.
– Nampa-AFP