Hatton: 'At 140 lbs., I’m the boss'

There’ll be no Changing of the Guard in the 140-lb division on May in Las Vegas.

This is the strong belief of British banger Ricky Hatton, whose grip on the mythical status of king of the 140-lb class, will be put to a test when he collides with the Filipino hero Manny Pacquiao.

“At 140 pounds I am the boss, I have the pedigree and I have the experience. No one has beaten me and I am not ready for Manny to be that first person to defeat me at my weight,” Hatton told Craig Watt of fightnews.

“I want to retire eventually as the top 140 pound fighter since Kostya Tszyu and with an undefeated record of 43 wins then I should be confident against Manny, who is used to fighting guys ten pounds below me. I made that move up and it is a totally difference way of fighting and the (Oscar) De La Hoya experience could make him too confident.”

Hatton said that Pacquiao’s sweat-free win over De La Hoya may have gone over to his head that he could be thinking that Hatton would pass out as soon as the opening bell sounds at the MGM Grand.

“I have seen some of his training sessions in LA on YouTube and they clearly think I am a one trick pony -- move forward in straight lines and easy to hit."

Talking this time to Gareth Davies of The Telegraph, Hatton insists Pacquiao hasn’t been with somebody who hits harder than him.

“Surely to God when I look at the size of him, Manny has never been hit so hard. He’s a little bit open, when he comes for you, he gambles, puts all his eggs in one basket. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be very confident. I just don’t see anything he has to beat me,” said Hatton, who is deep in training in Las Vegas under Floyd Mayweather Sr.

“Not that I am taking him lightly or disrespecting him. I don’t want to sound over-confident. It is partly because I have never lost at light welterweight and I will be a lot heavier than him. I want to be a great champion. I want to be remembered for that.”

Meanwhile, Mayweather Sr. unleashed another round of verbal firepower, predicting that “Ricky is going to crack Manny like an egg.”

“Freddie the joke coach Roach is counting his chickens before they hatch by thinking that Manny is going to succeed in his hunt for Ricky’s titles, but there will be no resurrection in the ring for him that night,” said the outspoken trainer.

“The evening of May 2 will be Manny’s last supper as number one pound-for-pound fighter. Ricky’s victory will be as sweet as Easter candy as he defends his world title and there’s no doubt in my mind that Ricky will hippity, hoppity all the home.”

Source: http://mb.com.ph/articles/202037/hatton-at-140-lbs-i-m-boss

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