May 2009: Pacquiao v Hatton!

Hatton to train 12 weeks for Pacquiao bout

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If Manny Pacquiao thinks eight or nine weeks of training would be enough, then the Filipino pound-for-pound champion should wait until he hears this.

Ricky Hatton will train 12 weeks for his May 2 showdown with Pacquiao.

According to the British press, the 30-year-old Hatton, who has only lost once in 46 fights, will start training early February in UK, before moving over to Seattle and finally wrapping it up in Las Vegas weeks before the fight.

Hatton’s only loss came against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December of 2007. Ironically, it will be Floyd Mayweather Sr. who will train the “Hitman” from Manchester in his fight against Pacquiao.

Hatton holds the IBO light-welterweight crown. The fight will mark the first time Pacquiao will fight in the 140-pound class. He fought and crushed Oscar dela Hoya at 147 pounds last month, and only last June knocked out David Diaz at 135 pounds.

For Dela Hoya, Pacquiao trained at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, under Freddie Roach, for nine weeks. Normally he trains for eight weeks.

The stakes are high for both Pacquiao and Hatton since both fighters have openly said they’re close to retirement. And a victory for either one opens the gate to a huge match with the “now-retired-but-soon-to-fight” Mayweather Jr.

Pacquiao, also 30, and Hatton stand to earn the biggest purse in their respective careers, with the Filipino expected to top the $10 to $15 to $20 million he earned against Dela Hoya, and the Briton hoping to surpass the $10 million he pocketed against Mayweather Jr.

The fight is being set at either the Thomas and Mack Center or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Hatton had wanted to bring it to England, and fight Pacquiao before a hundred thousand screaming, drinking fans at the Wembley Stadium.

But Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, shot it down even before it could take off, saying that in England “you have to stage the fight at five in the morning (to capture the primetime audience in the US), and in an open venue with 90 percent of rain.”

Reports said HBO (cable giant Home Box Office) was also against staging the fight in England.  – Abac Cordero

SOURCE: ABS-CBN News Online, hatton-train-12-weeks-pacquiao-bout