Pacquiao does it again!

Coming off the destruction of Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao has proven once again why he is considered the world's best pound 4 pound fighter with a devastating 2nd round knockout of Ricky Hatton. The fight played out pretty much as I had expected only that it ended quicker than what I thought. I figured Hatton would have been able to stay in there and last until the later rounds before getting stopped but it was a blowout from the opening bell. It was all downhill for Hatton starting with the ring entrance where he decided to let down his cheering fans by not playing his customary "Blue Moon". The Hatton fans had worked themselves up into a frenzy and were waiting to sing their beloved hero into the ring when he played a different song and the usually loud fans were surprisingly silent. That was my first indication that Hatton was in for some difficulty. If you watched closely he also had a very nervous look about him coming into the ring and all during the introductions. Not his normal confident face. Almost as if he knew the result that was to come. Which is shocking given his confidence during his traning and buildup to the fight. It was a very different Ricky Hatton that stepped into the ring last night.

Just as I had thought when the fight started Hatton came right at Pacquiao leading with his face and getting hammered with counter hooks. Hatton looked very stiff in there to me. I know he gets hit alot trying to get inside on a fighter but usually he is able to slip/block more punches than he did this time...again he didn't look like himself. Pacquiao's punches looked amazingly strong at that weight and he had Hatton down twice in the first round and I honestly didn't think he would have made it to the second. I give Hatton credit though for surviving and coming out in the second but he almost should have just stayed down. He had no way of avoiding Pacquiao's punches. I am not sure what Mayweather Sr.'s plan was for the fight but it certainly wasn't to get Hatton to slip more punches. The second round was the same as the first, Pacquiao showing superior speed, strength, and deadly accuracy. Then the end came with 7 seconds left in the round as Pacquiao landed a perfect left hook to the chin that laid Hatton flat. And he stayed down and looked in bad shape for several minutes. A very impressive win for Pacquiao who is definitely on a roll and steamrolling through his last few opponents. Who's next? Well Floyd Mayweather Jr. is back out of retirement and has announced his July 18 fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. I believe Floyd is looking at the Marquez fight as a tune up fight to get ready for the mega showdown between him and Pacquiao later this year. I will discuss more on this in my next post.

The undercard of the fight was decent as well. Most impressive was middleweight prospect Matt Korobov. Now he did have a questionable opponent in front of him but he did what he should do with that level of fighter and get him out of there in 2 rounds. Korobov has a great style with crisp, accurate, hard punches. Keep and eye on this guy.
Daniel Jacobs had a good win over tough Michael Walker. Jacobs is used to early knockouts so while the fight may not have been entertaining to some people, it was exactly what Jacobs needed. He needed to get some rounds in and show that he can still win a decision if he is unable to KO his opponent. Walker had a solid chin and a good defense and never looked really hurt in the fight. Jacobs took an easy 8 round decision.
Canadian super featherweight Benoit Gaudet put up a better fight than I expected against WBC champ Humberto Soto. I expected Soto to overwhelm Gaudet and stop him early in the fight. Gaudet was dropped in round one with a beauty left hook but did get up and seemed to frustrate the champ who seemed distracted and at times not interested in the fight. Then Soto ended the fight in the 9th round with what started with a great uppercut.