Pacqui-Wow! Manny Pacquiao Annihilates Ricky Hatton

Last night, I almost slept through the Pacquiao-Hatton fight. After a few glasses of Bacardi rum I was nearly knocked out on my couch. The good news: I was able to sleep through most of the underwhelming undercard. The (almost) bad news: I nearly missed the main event.  Maybe it was the nightmare that I had about getting taken for $50 that woke me up (hopefully you got that joke). After I got up, I did not know what to make of what I had just seen.

Hatton had just met the same fate that I met "post-Bacardi rum." Indeed, he was put to sleep. It was the most violent conclusion that I had seen in a fight of this magnitude since Tyson-Spinks (’88). I felt the same way that night about Tyson as I felt about Pacquiao last night – no fighter on this particular night would have been able to defeat him. Like Spinks 21 years ago, Hatton never really had a chance.

Technically, my Pacquiao-Hatton fight prediction was correct, but I damn sure didn’t expect to see Hatton get KTFO‘d in the second round! Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach didn’t seem too surprised, as he predicted that Hatton would not last three rounds with his man. Well I guess Roach was technically wrong too, as Hatton didn’t last two rounds.

Pacquiao and Roach also accomplished another unlikely feat. They managed to shut up Hatton’s boisterous trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr. Absolutely nothing that Mayweather said pre-fight came to fruition. Hatton fought as reckless as ever once he realized that he was no match for Pacquiao’s speed. So much for the vaunted Mayweather-Hatton makeover. On this night, Roach’s game plan (lead right hooks to set up the left hand) and Pacquiao’s talent carried the day.

Last year I stated that Pacquiao was the world’s best boxer. Until someone defeats him, he still is. It looks like boxing is in good hands, even in the wake of Oscar De La Hoya’s recent retirement. All I can say is, "Pacqui-Wow!"