Hitman - Pacman, Which Man Will Win?

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On May 2nd the biggest fight of the year takes place in Las Vegas, NV. By this I mean, Manny Pacquiao against Ricky Hatton. ESPN's Internet poll had 57% saying Pacquiao will win by knockout, this couldn't be further from the truth. Don't get me wrong I think Pacquiao will win but not by a knockout. He will grind out a very tough decision win. Just because Pacquiao had a tremendous, and I do mean tremendous victory of Oscar De La Hoya, he is not invincible.

Manny Pacquiao has been almost flawless since working with his trainer Freddie Roach. Before this he was a good fighter but not the great fighter he is today. His history is not to be forgotten, before he beat Eric Morales twice he was beaten badly and he has been knocked down in recent fights. His fight before De La Hoya was against Juan Manuel Marquez and I feel he lost that fight. Oscar De La Hoya showed up for the fight looking tired and heavy, the perfect type of fighter for Pacquiao to defeat. Pacquiao is very fast and has great movement which works for heavier fighters. Ricky Hatton is a Junior Welterweight who is quicker than David Diaz, whom was defeated by Manny Pacquiao. Ricky Hatton will be a tough fight for Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao is a south-paw who loads up his strong left hand. This won't work against Ricky Hatton. Ricky Hatton made the mistake of standing in front of straight shots against Floyd Mayweather and couldn't stand up after getting hit square in his face, Hatton will not make that mistake again. Pacquiao is very quick but so is Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao will outwork "The Hitman" Ricky Hatton.

Ricky Hatton is coming off an extremely dominant victory over Paul Malignaggi. This can be deceiving, Paul Malignaggi did not have a good game plan against Hatton and he paid the price for it. Ricky Hatton's fight before that was a slim ugly victory over Juan Lazcano. Ricky Hattons biggest problem against Floyd Mayweather Jr. was that he abandoned his fight plan. He admits to getting excited and going for the knockout, he will not make that mistake again. Ricky Hatton usual fighting style is to throw one or two punches then grab and get chip shots. Now he is trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr. and looks to have changed his style. Hatton was always strong and quick but Mayweather is getting him to move more and not just brawl. We have not seen much of this new style of Ricky Hatton and I think it has made him a better fighter. I love and have loved Hatton's grit and style ever since I first saw him fight. And even though I love him, I think he will come up a little short and lose the fight.

Both of these fighters have great natural talent and even greater trainers. This will be a very good, close, entertaining fight. It will be very close but Pacquiao will continually edge out Hatton in each round. I know this fight will be closer than an overly dominate Pacquiao win. Both fighter are very tough and have great cardio. This fight really will go down to the wire. In conclusion, I really want Ricky Hatton to win but Manny Pacquiao will get the victory.

P.S. Contracts are almost finished for a July fight where Floyd Mayweather Jr. will come out of retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez. I am excited for this fight, it may not be explosive but it will be entertaining to true fight fans. The winner of that fight will most likely fight the winner of Hatton-Pacquiao.

The Punisher (Paul Williams) Punished his 4th fighter in his 4th Weight Class

On April 11, Paul Williams defeated Winky Wright with, what seemed like, little effort. In order to appreciate this fighter it is necessary to understand his background. He was undefeated with a 32-0 record when he beat Antonio Margarito. For his next fight he challenged Carlos Quintana. He didn't look his strongest and he lost by a unanimous decision. His following fight, he fought Quintana again and avenged his loss with authority, by a TKO in the 1st round. Paul Williams then beat Andy Kolle, Verno Phillips, and, after last night, Winky Wright.

The slender 6'1" fighter is a total package. He has great head movement, quick hands, an amazing reach, and can dominate on the inside. He felt nobody wanted to fight him, because he was too good, so he jumped up several weight classes. The only big name fighter who wanted him was Winky Wright, who had come off of an almost two year break. Wright had previously been embarrassed by Bernard Hopkins in July of 2007. To Wright's credit, he fought very well but it was not good enough to beat Paul Williams. A veteran strategy that Wright did was hold the arm of Williams on the referees blind side. By this I mean the arm that was on the far side of the referee, so the referee could not see it. This did not deter Paul Williams who in the 6th round reached under and around his own right arm with a left uppercut and connected for a powerful hit. I had never seen this done before. Wright used all the tricks he could but he still fell short. I scored the fight for Paul Williams winning every round, so did judge Adelaide Bird 120-108.

Paul Williams has been very good at four different weight classes, so the question is; what weight will he stay at? He claimed he was willing to fight whoever his promoter put in front of him, he even hinted for somebody to come out of retirement, meaning Floyd Mayweather Jr. I feel he is good and can be good at any weight class he chooses but he will be best at Middleweight. I feel he could beat Felix Sturm with ease and give Kelly Pavlik some problems. The latter being a harder fight, he might not want to take. The fact is this, Paul Williams is a great fighter and he doesn't get big time fights. He needs to keep doing what he is doing, beating all his competition. Then he might draw out a big time fighter for a challenge. At twenty-seven he has many years left and I think those will be good years for Paul Williams.

The Lightweight Division Looks Bigger and Better

After the fights on April 4th, the Lightweight division looks to be filling up with talent. Some of the top fighters from the division have left it. Manny Pacquiao, Nate Campbell, and maybe Juan Manuel Marquez have all jumped up to the Junior Welterweight division. With those top fighters gone this Lightweight division still is pretty good.

Juan Diaz had a tough loss to a pro in Juan Manuel Marquez on February 28th. It was a very good and very competitive fight. Juan Manuel Marquez showed his experience and got a great looking KO. Even after this loss, Juan Diaz is the top fighter in the division.

Edwin Valero got a powerful knockout of Antonio Pitalua in the 2nd round of their fight on April 4th. Valero jumped out at the beginning and was throwing cement blocks at Pitalua's head. Pitalua was knocked down three times before the referee stopped the fight. Valero said, after the fight, he wants to fight anybody: Marquez, Diaz, Hatton, or Pacquiao. He feels that he can dominate in the Junior Welterweight division. If he fights like he did against Pitalua he could handle all of his competition. With this said, Antonio Pitalua is a strong fighter but he is not very crafty. If Valero fights any of the above mentioned fighters, he might have a struggle. Marquez, Diaz, and Pacquiao are all have very good body and head movement. It would be very entertaining to see Valero fight any of those fighters or any other fighter because he has extremely powerful hands.

Michael Katsidis also fought on April 4th and had come off of two losses. He lost to Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz. These are two very strong fighters so his losses don't mean Katsidis is a bad fighter. Katsidis took a page out of Juan Manuel Marquez's book and had a slow start. In the 4th round he turned it on and a headbutt opened up Jesus Chavez. Once the blood started to flow, Katsidis' bloodlust turned on and he took over the fight. Jesus Chavez was trading shots throughout the fight but after the 7th round he didn't come out of his corner. Katsidis looked very good coming off those two losses he had and he re-established himself as a contender in the division.

Another fighter in the division who was on the comeback track was Julio Diaz. Julio Diaz took on Rolando Reyes on April 4th and got knocked out in the 5th round. Once one of the top Lightweight fighters, Julio Diaz now has a long path to return to greatness. The audience in Austin, Texas booed Diaz and Reyes because Diaz was just throwing jabs ans short shots. Reyes decided in the 5th round to start fighting and he did. He landed a very solid right hook and left uppercut to stun Diaz and followed with a flurry to drop him. Diaz got up only to receive another barrage of punches. After this the referee stopped the fight leaving, little known, Rolando Reyes as a contender in the Lightweight division.

There is one simple fact about this outstanding division, nobody knows exactly what will happen until the Ricky Hatton - Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2nd. Once there is a clear winner the division can start scheduling fights. Anyone and everyone wants to fight the winner of that fight. Both the winner and loser of that fight will be looked at as competition. Lightweights to Welterweights want Hatton and Pacquiao and the future is unknown. However one thing is known, the Lightweight division is a tough, hard, packed division.