As I'm sitting here writing this, I am
thinking about the two fighters, and what they will be doing now, in
this, their final countdown hours to their pound for pound battle.
I had skipped breakfast and lunch today due to
a very busy schedule, and by 3.30 pm, I was hungry and very thirsty.
I kept thinking about the two fighters, and it made me wonder how
they were feeling before they jumped up on the scales.
Through the years, I had seen some terrible
signs of boxers who had starved themselves and who had lived and
trained on crackers and tiny sips of water, just so they could
reach their chosen weight limit. I had seen their faces, their eyes,
their gaunt look.
Today, when I looked into the eyes of both
champions, I saw two different pictures. One of clear, and vibrant
health , and the other of a weak, and glassy, and almost phantom
looking face.
Pacquiao looked tremendous, while to me.
Hatton looked as bad as I have seen him before making weight. Also,
Hatton looked “skinny,” while Pacquiao looked strong at the scales.
Pacquiao took the scales and weighed in at
138 lbs. Hatton scaled in at bang on the weight at 140 lbs, and
as he stepped off, he clenched his fist and gestured to the
thousands of fans who had traveled across the Atlantic to see him.
Pacquiao just smiled and raised his hands in the air, waving to
everyone.
As both fighters faced each other, I
wondered when Hatton had his last bit of food or drink. One thing
is for sure, Hatton will be a lot heavier on fight night. Pacquiao
should be around 141, while Hatton will be as much as 148. Will it
be a factor in the fight?
We all know, it's the fighters who do the
work. It's these men who sacrifice everything, who put their bodies
through absolute hell, grinding out perfection, in order to be the
best they can be. Some fighters leave part of themselves in
the gym, and others lose part of themselves in the ring.
I'm going to say this now, as it's been on my
mind for some time. Ricky Hatton was a world champion, an undisputed
champion at that. He took on anyone, and only wanted the best. He
worked hard with Billy Graham at the Phoenix gym and achieved and
exceeded all his goals to be the number one junior welterweight in
the world. He did this well before Floyd Mayweather Snr. All this
talk from Mayweather saying that Hatton couldn’t do pad work before
he met him, and that Graham wasn’t a good trainer. He continually
stated that Hatton was a better fighter now, since working under
his guidance.
To me, saying these sort of things was
unfortunate, and degrading to Hatton and Graham, and they should
never been said.
A few things that should be said are, why was
Mayweather late for training sessions? Why was his pad work routines
with Hatton, virtually always the same combinations, and why was
Mayweather taking Hatton on the pads , standing in an orthodox stance?
Mayweather should have been standing with his right hand, right foot
forward, while taking Hatton's punches. When I watched them, he was
standing with his left hand, left foot forward, thus leaving Hatton
to throw his combinations to an orthodox boxer scenario. The problem
with this is, he is leaving Hatton open to southpaw, Pacquiao's
right hook. To me, this is a big mistake.
When this fight was announced, I wrote my
analysis and I predicted that Pacquiao would wear Hatton down with
speed and lateral movement, picking him off with fast and furious
combinations to Hatton's body and head, and as Hatton tries to get
to Pacquiao’s body, he will get caught with Pacquiao’s uppercuts,
until he finally takes him out around the 9th round.
Whatever happens, it should be an exciting,
all out war, and a tremendous fight for the fans, and the sport
of boxing.
Gary Todd is an international author with
his book on world champions, “Workouts from boxings greatest champs”
and he has been involved in all aspects of boxing for over 25
years. He is also a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association
of America.
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5-1-2009
