The father/manager of former IBO light welterweight champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Ray Hatton, has praised pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao for “a cracking fight” in which he stopped WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in 55 seconds of the final round at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last Saturday.
In an overseas telephone conversation with BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, Hatton said Pacquiao put on “a tremendous performance and he (Pacquiao) looked so big on the scales, even bigger than Cotto.”
Hatton said he felt that Cotto “took more than what he needed to about eight rounds onwards” even as he commended Pacquiao who, he observed, “at times took his foot off the pedal (eased off) which was good job he did.”
At the same time Hatton said Cotto was “very, very brave and took punches with about three rounds left that I thought he didn’t have to although he didn’t want to quit.” He said such decisions “could be punishing a little bit later and could be the difference between how long his career lasts.”
Pacquiao administered a brutal second round knockout on Hatton when they clashed at the MGM Grand last May 6.
Hatton disclosed that following that crushing defeat his son Ricky would make a decision on whether to return to the ring sometime in January after an extended holiday and that should he return the opponent may well be Juan Manuel Marquez, the reigning WBA/WBO lightweight champion who dropped a lopsided points decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr last October.
Hatton said “that’s the fight they want him to have and I know for a fact that if Ricky comes back you have to come up against an opponent who is in the top three or four in the pound-for-pound list. I wouldn’t think he’ll come back to just fight and knock somebody out.” He said Ricky Hatton “is just like Manny (Pacquiao) who wouldn’t do that either. If he (Ricky) does fight again it will be a really credible opponent.” Hatton Promotions chief executive Gareth Williams had earlier told Gavin Glicksman of The Sun that “if Ricky does carry on it would be an ideal fight for him to take on Marquez. He is an elite fighter, just like Ricky, who will want to challenge the best.”
SOURCE: http://www.boxingscene.com/index.php?m=show&id=23562
