Report: Pacman-Hatton purse likely at 50-50

MANILA, Philippines - Bob Arum hinted at an even split in earnings between his client Manny Pacquiao and British slugger Ricky Hatton, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

Besides the venue - it's still a tossup between MGM Grand and Thomas and Mack Center - that's about the only matter left unsettled in an almost-certain slugfest between the two power-punchers. It's going to be on May 2 and in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao got roughly 33 percent of the total earnings when he fought Oscar de la Hoya in December. Pacquiao, considered boxing's biggest draw besides De la Hoya, was initially pegged to get a higher take in the Hatton tussle.

Because Arum has been impressed with Hatton's star appeal in his home country, the purse could be divided equally.

"We might do a million homes on pay-per-view in England," Arum told Bill Dwyre of the LA Times. "You have to give Hatton some credit for what he brings to the table."

Arum also added in the same report that the promotions could begin in England. "We'll have some (darts) matches over there," Arum said, referring to both boxers' proficiency in the recreational sport. - GMANews.TV

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/143190/Report-Pacman-Hatton-purse-likely-at-50-50

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Manny Pacquiao Will KO Ricky Hatton In Round 10

Again the battle of trash talking is starting to heat up the tube and all boxing fan be it loyal or just ordinary fans of Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton, are the perpetrators.

The fight is still four months away but as of press time things are getting ablaze with furious supplications, comments and opinions leading to the proposed May battle between the Pacman and the Hitman.

As boxing enthusiasts and keen observer, i am exercising my right to join the forum by imparting my analysis on this upcoming rumble in the four square jungle.

After discreetly scrutinizing the fighting style of the Brit fighter (Hatton) and the style of the Filipino icon, I therefore see a stoppage on the late round and most probably in the 10th round.

As i've wrote on my previous article, Hatton's non-stop fighting style is a tailor made for the Pacman. Look in Hatton's previous fights, i noted that the Hitman was the aggressor attacking his opponents non-stop that includes his fight against Floyd Mayweather, but again what bothers me was his defense.

He is a good offensive fighter, but again i reiterate he has a rot defense particularly in the late rounds. He goes forward with arms wide open.

In his fight against Malignaggi, last year i saw Hatton unleashing haymakers in the late rounds not minding tightening his defense, fortunately the Magic Man , was a one handed fighter that night, otherwise he would end up kissing the canvass like what had happened to him in his fight against Mayweather.

Pacquiao on the other hand is good fighter both offensive and defensive. In his last two fights against David Diaz and Oscar dela Hoya, Pacquiao was too elusive that gave his opponents difficulties for their targets. Lateral movement brought by his speed gave him that kind of reposition.

With his speed Pacquiao could surface from different angles, thus he is not easily to be cornered. Dela Hoya, was not able to drag Manny in the ring's corner that's why he was not able to unleash his favorite combinations that used to knocked out opponents.

Hatton loves to bully his opponent to the corner then figure in an arm wrestling same he did to Mayweather and Malignaggi, but this tactics would not prevail on Pacquiao. Manny will intend to again rely on his lateral movement but what makes good about the Pacman is that he has a tendency of moving to different angles then abruptly attack his opponent with powerful left and right combinations.

So come fight night, is see a stoppage in the late rounds most probably in the 10th, because Pacquiao loves to take down his opponent in the late rounds. It's up to you whether you conform or not. Many disagree with me when i foresee dela Hoya will get TKO in late rounds, last December, but i proved them wrong. So make your analysis, make your comments after all I’m living in a democratic country! Noning R. Antonio

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/104645-manny-pacquiao-will-ko-ricky-hatton-in-round-10

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Bleacher Report Boxing Pound For Pound Rankings: Jan 09

As promised, the Bleacher Report Boxing Pound For Pound rankings are in. I asked the top ten writers to submit their personal rankings, and averaged them out. The results may surprise you.

So drum roll please.....................

1. Manny Pacquaio

There was no doubt about this one. Manny received all the first place votes, and deservedly so. Since Floyd "retired", nobody has gone at the throne quite like Manny. The only other guy that could even stake a claim to the top spot is our number two guy.

2. Joe Calzaghe

Calzaghe actually might not be on this list much longer. With retirement rumors lingering and no real competition for Joe, he is left with few options. He can fight a rematch with Hopkins, or take on the up and coming Chad Dawson. He has sworn against fighting the former again, and the latter is not a big enough matchup at this point.

3. Bernard Hopkins

Just his mere name appearing on this list is a credit to a genetic wonder. At an age when most adult males experience a mid life crisis, B-Hop schooled a young, hungry Middleweight champ in Kelly Pavlik, making him look like an amateur in the process. What's left for Bernard in 09? Not much if he can't secure a rematch with Calzaghe. Maybe a fight with Dawson?

4. Juan Manuel Marquez

The skilled craftsman who has gone toe to toe with Pacquaio twice comes in at number four. While he has actually won more rounds against Pacquaio than he has lost, numerous knockdowns cost him wins in both fights. Still, Marquez is an offensive virtuoso, who throws great combinations and possesses every punch there is.

5. Israel Vasquez

After his brutal wars with Rafael Marquez, Vasquez has taken some much needed time off. A return in 09 against either Marquez or old nemesis Larios might be on the horizon after a tune up fight.

6. Antonio Margarito

Margarito might be able to climb this list significantly in 09 if he stays busy. An upcoming showdown with Shane Mosley and a rematch with Cotto are good steps toward the top spot. If he can win both and close out the year with a win against Paul Williams, Margarito will be in the argument for the top spot.

7. Paul Williams

Paul was all over the place on the rankings. Some had him as high as number two, some as low as ten. Seven is a nice place for him, considering he does have a win over Margarito, who resides at number six. Williams will continue to be hurt in the pound for pound rankings by the fact that fighters avoid him like the plague. Let's hope this changes in 09.

8. Kelly Pavlik

Ok, so Pavlik got schooled by Hopkins. Like we haven't seen that before. B-Hop has made a career out of exposing weaknesses in fighters, and he exposed some in Pavlik. Problem is, who at middleweight can follow his lead? From the looks of things, If Abraham or Williams don't fight Pavlik, don't look for him to lose again in 09.

9. Ricky Hatton

An upcoming matchup against Pacquaio may move Hatton up this list, or off it completely. Either way, should be an explosive fight.

10. Wladimir Klitschko

Does Dr. Steelhammer have top ten pound for pound talent? Yes.

Does Dr. Steelhammer have top ten pound for pound competition to fight at heavyweight. No. Not even close.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/105746-bleacher-report-boxing-pound-for-pound-rankings-jan-09

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Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton: Will "Fatman" Beat Pacman?

Ricky Hatton has only one loss in his celebrated career. It was as a Welterweight against undefeated p4p champ Floyd Mayweather Jr., and if you are going to lose to someone, there is no better loss to have on your resume than little Floyd.

Peruse boxing history, and you will find the hardest guys to defend against and also the guys that are avoided most are the southpaws; this fact also made its way onto the big screen of Hollywood in the 1976 inspirational movie Rocky, during a scene in which Apollo Creeds trainer is discussing the skills of Rocky Balboa in his upcoming fight.

"He's a southpaw. I don't want you messing with southpaws. They do everything backwards." Apollo creed: Southpaw nothing. I'll drop him in three. Apollo Creed meets the Italian Stallion. Now that sounds like a damn monster movie.

Manny Pacquiao or "Pacman" as he is known in boxing circles is a stratospheric fighter who has ended the careers of two of the greatest fighters in history, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales and is likely to have ended another one with his recent beat-down of Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya.

Manny is nearing sainthood..he stops for prayer in the midst of sparring matches and gives away six figure amounts to his home in the Philippines, but next in line could be a fighter with the equivalency in firepower, Manny should be on the lookout for the insurgence of "Hitman" Ricky Hatton.

This potential insurrection hasn't happened yet however, and this complicated story gets even more complicated when you add the fact that Floyd Mayweather Junior wishes to come out of retirement to face Manny Pacquiao.

Recently, on a Michigan radio station, it was reported by David Mayo, a press columnist from Detroit Michigan—Mayweathers hometown—that there is truth to these sudden rumors.

Mayo tells Ryan Terpstra of WGHN Radio that Mayweather Jr. apparently wants his father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., to train him for a fight against Pacquiao. Mayweather Sr. currently trains Ricky Hatton, who also could potentially be Pacquiao's next opponent.

There is a possibility that Pacquiao goes and fights Hatton, because even if little Floyd comes back in January and starts training, he couldn't be ready to fight until close to the middle of the year, at least May, according to Mayo.

"It might suit Hatton and Pacquiao to go ahead and make that fight...in Wembley Stadium, which is the idea, trying to draw this super mega-live crowd...and the winner gets Floyd. With Pacquiao fighting in England, you run the risk of, if not an eliminated Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, certainly a devalued one, or Mayweather gets turned to Hatton instead."

So there's a number of things that could happen and the plot is certainly thickening in this on going story of a mega million dollar showdown to take place later this year; as a huge combat sports fan I'm extremely excited to see all this shuffling taking place...let's just hope that the Mayweather money and political Boxing drama doesn't ruin an otherwise history making event.

"World champions aren't made in gyms, they are made from something they have deep inside them, a desire, a dream, a vision..."-Muhammad Ali

Note: Special thanks to WGHN RADIO for David Mayo interview.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/99618-manny-pacquiao-vs-ricky-hatton-will-fatman-beat-pacman

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The Biggest Obstacle For Ricky Hatton: Manny Pacquiao's Southpaw Stance

Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquaio are going to have one of the biggest fights in 2009. Many people have wondered how Hatton will deal with Manny's speed, but the bigger question is how will Hatton handle Manny's southpaw stance? To gain more insight in Hatton's ability to deal with southpaws, one must look at all the previous fights Hatton has had with southpaws in his professional boxing career.

According to Boxrec.com, Hatton has faced six southpaws in his professional career. All wins, however, four of the six went the distance, one was KO via a bodyshot, and the other was a second-round DQ.

Hatton's first two fights with a southpaw were against Mark Ramsey, who took him to a six-round decision win, at a time when Hatton was knocking out everyone he faced.

2002 was the year of the Southpaw for Ricky Hatton as he faced three southpaws in succession. His first fight was with southpaw Eamon Magee. To be fair, Magee had lost but never had been knocked out.

What's significant about this bout is that Magee had Hatton on the deck for the first time in his career. It was also the closest fight that Hatton had been in at that point in his career.

The next fight was DQ win against Stephen Smith that only went two rounds when his corner stepped on the apron in protest of an elbow thereby stopping the fight.

The third fight was a charm as Hatton fought Joe Hutchinson and put him down and out with a liver shot. It took four years for Hatton to face another southpaw.

In 2006, Hatton faced Luiz Collazo and eked out a controversial victory 115-112 on two cards and 114-113 on the third. The only thing that saved the victory was a flash knockdown in the first round. Collazo not only had the southpaw advantage, but he had the size, length, and a stylistic boxer advantage over the brawler Hatton.

Not including the welterweight Collazo, all the other southpaws that Hatton faced at the light welterweight division ranged between 5'7"-5'8", about the same height as 5'7" Hatton.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/98184-the-biggest-obstacle-for-ricky-hatton-manny-pacquiaos-southpaw-stance

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Freddie Roach Is Cautious With Ricky Hatton, Warns of a War

Just recently, we witnessed one of the greatest all-time fighters being taught a lesson by a new pound for pound king. Oscar was mercifully beaten by Manny and had nothing to offer in return in the ring.

Nobody thought that this was the way the fight would go. Sure, there were people who believed that Pacman would win this fight, but I don’t believe that people could have predicted what went down that night.

Now, after such a great performance, there are multiple options open for Manny. Out of all those great fighters he could face, Hatton seems to be the clear choice. The deal is almost done, the fans have been notified, and the media is ready with their cameras and microphones.

So what does this fight mean? What kind of performance can you expect from Pacman? Will he do to Hatton what he was able to do to Oscar?

Freddie Roach says no! In a recent interview, Freddie stated that Hatton is a very dangerous fighter. He said that he was very confident in the Oscar fight, but not as confident in the Hatton fight. He warned that Hatton will “dish out a better performance than Oscar.”

“Pacquiao needs to train for at least eight weeks at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood to be in top shape for Hatton, who is also a slugger and puncher,” he said. Roach also mentions that Hatton is a “tremendous body puncher.”

Freddie must know what he is talking about. I have heard him say nice things about other fighters, but never something of this proportion. I think that now that he's gotten Manny to the very top of the game, he is much more cautious about the fighters he does not know. Underestimating a fighter like Ricky can be very fatal to someone’s gameplan.

In my personal opinion, I think that Hatton can win this fight. He is a very active fighter with great stamina. He will trade with Manny, and I’m not so sure that Manny would win that trade-off. Hatton has energy and power to back Manny off. It’s a very dangerous fight for both fighters, and I think that one has as much to gain as the other to lose.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/95883-freddie-roach-is-cautious-with-ricky-hatton-warns-of-a-war

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'Dream' 2008's richest; Pacquiao earns P548M

NEW YORK - Boxing and the economy may both be struggling, but Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao proved the biggest fights can still create a buzz.

Pacquiao's complete domination of De La Hoya last Sunday at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas generated about 1.25 million pay-per-view buys, according to numbers released by HBO on Wednesday. It's only the fourth time a non-heavyweight bout in the US reached at least one million, and De La Hoya has been involved in all of them.

The pay-per-view take generated about $70 million in revenue, HBO said, making it the most successful pay-per-view event in 2008.

Of that amount, HBO will get half the earnings and the other half will be split between Pacquiao and De La Hoya based on the estimated 30-70 split they had earlier agreed on. Pacquiao’s cut was pegged at least 32 percent.

That means Pacquiao will get an estimated gross amount worth $11.2 million or P548.8 million.

As stipulated in his contract, Pacquiao was guaranteed $11 million to fight De La Hoya. GMANews.TV learned that Pacquiao would only get the higher amount between the guaranteed clause and the PPV earnings, and not both.

"When it's all counted up, it will end up at 1.35 or 1.4 million [subscriptions]," Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank told ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael.

Rafael’s report noted that Pacquiao’s previous pay-per-view high was 405,000 buys registered in the Juan Manuel Marquez rematch last April.

De La Hoya owns the top four non-heavyweight pay-per-view earnings. Only his showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007 (2.4 million buys) and a 1999 match versus Felix Trinidad (1.4 million) were higher than the weekend match.

"In this economy, our expectations were appropriately tempered," Mark Taffet, in-charge of HBO pay-per-view, also said on the ESPN report. “But 1.25 million buys shows tremendous support from boxing fans all across the country and reinforces the importance of continuing to present the biggest and best fights the sports has to offer."

The MGM Grand Garden was packed, with an announced attendance of just over 15,000.

Considered the top pound-for-pound boxer and a hero in his native Philippines, Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) moved up two weight divisions to fight at welterweight. The one-sided bout was stopped after the eighth round when, with the fighter bruised and swollen, De La Hoya's corner threw in the towel. - AP, with GMANews.TV

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/138745/Dream-2008s-richest-Pacquiao-earns-P548M

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