Pacquiao vs Hatton

News of Floyd Mayweather Jr's unretirement has been floating around lately. And as much as some boxing fans eagerly await the official announcement of his return and his possible bout with Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao's camp is not looking beyond his current challenge in Ricky Hatton. Ricky Hatton vs Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao vs Ricky Hatton.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather. However which way you put it, the title alone gives fight fans a chilling tingle to the possible matchup. Mayweather vs Pacquiao. Pound for pound. There can only be one. Now that's one fight boxing fans should never miss.

But let us focus on the current business at hand. Pacquiao vs Mayweather will never happen unless Pacquiao gets by Ricky Hatton who in recent reports have been throwing a lot of bombs towards Pacquiao's camp.

Ricky Hatton has time and again boldly declared that he will shock Manny Pacquiao during their May 2 fight in Las Vegas. Citing ultimately that Pacquiao's team is not preparing him for the new and overhauled Hitman Hatton.

With Floyd Mayweather Sr. in his corner, Ricky Hatton is beaming with confidence. So confident in fact that he believes that not only will he overpower the smaller Pacquiao, he will also match Pacquiao in speed and aggressiveness. Hatton has boldly predicted that he will knock Pacquiao out and claim the Pound-for-pound title.

But let us look at all the fight hype objectively. With Floyd Mayweather Sr. in Ricky Hatton's camp, all the bombs towards the other camp is expected. It is part of Mayweather Sr's tactic of psyching out the opponent. Boxing after all is not just a brute fight in the ring. It is also a mind game. And this is what Floyd Mayweather Sr. is trying to pull off.

But come fight night, will Ricky 'the Hitman' Hatton really overpower the Pacman? Will he be able to neutralize Pacquiao's speed, power and unrelenting attack? Will his size advantage be really that much of a difference? And more importantly, with Floyd Mayweather Sr in his corner, how much of a difference will it really make?

We've seen Ricky Hatton transform into a boxer from a bullying brawler in his fight against Paulie Malignaggi. And fight fans should not forget how Hatton fared in his previous fight. Yes Ricky Hatton has slowly changed his fighting style. He now picks his moments and has added some defensive arsenal in his fighting style. But is this really good for Hatton? When all his life he has fought straight-up, brawling his opponents to submission?

What fight fans should remember is Paulie Malignaggi is a weak boxer who depends so much on scoring points to win fights. He is no Manny Pacquiao, not even close. And although Hatton outscored Malignaggi in their fight, Ricky Hatton cannot do the same against Pacquiao.

When Hatton starts feeling Pacquiao's power, I doubt he will be able to retain composure. This is evident on how Hatton lost his cool against Floyd Mayweather Jr., which eventually led to him kissing the canvass.

Ricky Hatton has declared that he is the king of the 140-pound division and no one can beat him at that weight. Well, THAT is a fact...for now that is. But how long can Hatton hold on to his crown? Until Manny Pacquiao officially fights at 140, we will just have to wait.

May 2. East vs West. Hatton vs Pacquaio. Pacquiao vs Hatton.

Is Bob Arum Afraid of Mayweather for Pacquiao?

Pacquiao against Cotto. Pacquiao against Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. These are the fights Top Rank Boss Bob Arum wants. And with the rumors of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s comback floating around every corner, Arum is obviously playing deaf. Or is he?

The big fight for Pacquiao, should he win against Ricky Hatton, is Cotto or Chavez. This was according to Arum of course. Even the name of a fighter who should have retired years ago is being put into the picture. And that name is Oscar Dela Hoya.

Arum obviuosly thinks that Mayweather is not the name to rake in the money right now. Well let's say that maybe, just maybe, Money May needs a little bit of a tuneup before he can again be in the boxing spotlight. But it is an undeniable fact that the rumors of Mayweather coming out of retirement (not the closet) is making more buzz than the names Miguel Cotto or Julio Cesar Chavez.

Even Chavez 39-0-1 (29KO), who is fresh off a victory against Luciano Cuello in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday night is overshadowed by the mere news of Mayweather's return. Besides, Chavez fights in the Junior Middlewieght ranks and Pacquiao has only started to climb up to Welterweight. If many argued how much of a mismatch Pacquiao's last fight against Dela Hoya was, I wonder what boxing fans would think about this matchup. Sure, Pacquiao could give Chavez a beating like he did Oscar, but it would still be a mismatch one way or another.

Given that both Cotto and Pacquiao are promoted by Arum's Top Rank seems logical enough that Arum wants the two slug it out. However, this is not the fight fans want to see.

Mayweather is a boring fighter. He cherry-picks his opponents. He runs around the ring more than he throws punches. And Freddie Roach was spot on when he said that when you fight Mayweather, win or lose, you look bad doing it.

Nevertheless, even with all these negative publicity, Mayweather undeniably still has star-power as well as hate-value that keep fight fans interested in him. And a fight with Pacquiao definitely will pull in more PPV numbers than a fight against Cotto and Chavez combined.

Bob Arum apparently does not want Pacquiao to fight Mayweather for the reason that if the current Pound-for-Pound champ loses to the former Pound-for-Pound champ, Pac will lose the luster he has earned during his one-sided win against Dela Hoya. Pacquiao after all is his Money Man.

But will this really be the case? Other than Paul Williams, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, Pacquiao has what it takes to beat Mayweather. And should this fight materialize, it will still be one hell of a fight (all credits to Pacquiao of course).

Mayweather is a boring fighter but he is good at what he does. And if Arum wants Pacquiao to fight anyone but PBF, that makes him no different than the cherry-picker in Mayweather.

Pound-for-Pound Champ Pacquiao is 2008 Fighter of the Year

For the second time in three years, Manny Pacquiao has been voted by The Boxing Writers' Assn. of America on Tuesday as the Fighter of the Year.

The Filipino fighter, who is currently preparing for his May 2 clash against Ricky Hatton, edged out the recently retired Joe Calzaghe for the award. Freddie Roach, the Hall of Fame trainer of Pacquiao, was also named Trainer of the Year for the third time since 2003.

Pacquiao, who first fought Juan Manuel Marquez in 2008 won a super-featherweight world title last March on a split-decision. He then moved up in weight and beat world lightweight champion David Diaz by ninth-round knockout. After that fight, he once again moved up in weight and defied boxing logic by dismantling Oscar De La Hoya over eight rounds in December, making the 10-time world champion quit before the ninth round began.

"It's always nice to be recognized for doing a good job. I appreciate it a lot. We worked hard on making Manny a better fighter, and I think he was last year."

Roach said Pacquiao is "very excited" at the honor and intends to attend the BWAA dinner in June in New York.

Pacquiao is currently training under Freddie Roach for his May 2 fight against Hatton with a possibility of facing Floyd Mayweather on July.