Pacquiao Destroys Careers (#6)

Thanks to Micael Haskins for the title of this post (actually he wrote 'Ends' instead of 'Destroys' but I like 'Destroys' better).  I have to give credit where credit is due.  As for the fight itself, there are a few things we already knew (and were confirmed once again), and a few more things we learned.

Already knew, confirmed again: Pacquiao ends careers.

I'm not saying that Ricky Hatton necessarily belongs on the Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales-Oscar de la Hoya list, BUT if you look at Pacman's last fight with each of these three guys and compare it to Hatton's the results are eerily similar.  Pacquiao not only beat Barrera, Morales and De la Hoya, he demolished them.  He embarrassed them to the point that made them doubt th

ey could ever compete in the ring again.  He effectively ended their careers.  I know that Barrera and Morales had fights after their respective bouts with Pacquiao, but no one really cared anymore.  As for Oscar, well, let's just say that the next time he gets the itch to come out of "retirement," he should pop in the tape of his fight with Manny.  This would discourage any human to ever want to put on boxing gloves again. (By the way let the record show 

that Mito Espinoza has predicted that Oscar comes out of retirement to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.  So don't be shocked if it happens).  

So back to Hatton.  Manny demolished him, he embarrassed him, he effectively ended his career.  Will we see the Hitman in the ring again?  Of course, but he's never going to have a bigger fight.  He will be relegated to fighting in England against guys we know nothing about.  I mean, who is going to want to spend $55 for a PPV on a guy who couldn't even last 2 rounds with Pacquiao?  The aforementioned Mexican fighters lost, but neither of them were knocked unconscious.  Hatton's eyes after the knockout just went blank. Like scary blank.  You can say what you want to say about Hatton, but in the two biggest fights of his career, he was knocked out.  Ricky, it was nice to know you.

Already knew, confirmed again: Boxing Needs Ricky Hatton

I think it is safe to say that boxing has never seen a following quite like the one Ricky Hatton commands.  A lot of people give credit to the British fans who bring a football-like atmosphere to the ring, but give credit to Hatton too.  I know I spent the last paragraph explaining how we may never see Ricky again, but let's celebrate what was (is?) a great career.  Dude was 45-0 at light welterweight before the Pacquiao fight.  He was, for a very long time, the best light welterweight on the planet.  You don't win 45 fights by mistake.  

And oh, how I'm going to miss those fans (and the Ricky Hatton Marching Band).

There's only one Ricky Hatton,
One Ricky Hatton,
Walking along,
Singing this song,
Walking in a Hatton wonderland.

So even though we may never hear that song again, we just gotta wait 'til the next big thing from England comes along right?  Wrong.  English fans are one-of-a-kind, but they don't get behind just any English boxer.  Ricky was that loveable regular Joe who any boxing fan could appreciate.  Humble yet confident and never afraid to have some fun (like the thong he showed off to trainer Floyd Mayweather).  Remember Prince Naseem Hamed?  Cocky bastard, so naturally the English didn't really feel anything for him.  I guess we'll have to wait another 20 years until we see a crowd in Vegas like the one last night and the one during the Mayweather fight.  But until we do, you will be missed Ricky Hatton.

Learned:  Stick with what you know.

Hatton opted against coming out to Blue Moon, the popular anthem for supporters of the Manchester City F.C.  I don't know what song he came out to, but only after the initial song finished did they half-play Blue Moon.  I didn't expect the Hatton supporters to be so quiet during his trot to the ring.  I think they were just caught off guard by his choice of song.  They didn't expect to sing along to that song, they expected Blue Moon.  Add the fact that a Zombie-like Tom Jones sang God Save the Queen and you can understand why the English weren't as raucous as they have been before.  I figured that they would make their presence known during the fight but Pacquiao never gave them one second to get started.  I think they sang Hatton Wonderland once during the 2nd round and that was it.  I'm not saying that if he had come out to Blue Moon the fight would have had a different outcome, but at least we could have heard a little more of the crowd than we did, which would have been a good thing.  This is why I always get General Tso's Chicken at a Chinese spot, stick to what you know.

Already knew, confirmed again: Juan Manuel Marquez is really, really good.

If you look at Manny Pacquiao's boxing resume over the last 6 years, he has basically destroyed every opponent he has faced, save for one: Juan Manuel Marquez (ok ok ignore the Morales loss).  I've been saying forever that Marquez is really fucking good.  He is not better than Pacquiao but you can't deny he's one of the top 5 P4P fighters in the world.

The guy was knocked down 3 times in the first round by Manny and still had the heart and balls to continue giving Manny all hell.  One less knockdown and he would have probably won.  Marquez's performance in that fight has to be one of the most underrated and under-appreciated performances in recent boxing memory.  He almost beat Manny Pacquiao that night, and Manny knew this, which is why it took him 4 years to fight him again.  In the second fight, Marquez again gave him all hell again.  This time the judges gave Manny a split-decision victory, one that may not have happened if he wouldn't have knocked down Marquez in the 3rd round.  I know that when it comes down to it Manny still won, but the fact that Manny has been a cold-blooded killer against everyone else not named Marquez says a lot about the Mexican fighter. 

Manny is a great fighter but you cannot deny this fact: Manny Pacquiao has ducked Marquez on numerous occasions.  I think the only reason he fought him a second time is because he was banking on the then 34-year-old Marquez getting a little older and losing a step, which did not exactly happen.  After the second fight, the question of a second rematch was brought up to Manny who said, "I don't think so, this business is over."  So now everyone is looking forward to the mid-July super-bout between Marquez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. since the winner will most likely be Pacquiao's next opponent.  I know everyone is already talking about Mayweather-Pacquaio but in order for that to happen Mayweather must first defeat Marquez, which will be no easy task.  I think Mayweather wins, but don't be surprised if he doesn't (not exactly going to be an easy comeback fight for Floyd, remember he hasn't fought for 1.5 years).  If he doesn't then Manny cannot hide.  If Mayweather does win I still think Marquez gets his shot at Manny...3 years down the line. By then he will be 38 years old and Manny will most likely beat him convincingly.  We'll have to wait and see what happens, and as much as I wanna see Mayweather-Pacquaio in December, I won't be mad if we get Marquez-Pacquiao III instead.

Learned: Ok, maybe Manny can beat Floyd.

I don't wanna look too far into this, but I can't help it:  Floyd Mayweather beat Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao dismantled Ricky Hatton.  Big difference.  Last night's beat-down was so bad that I kinda felt bad for the Hitman.  Hatton gave Mayweather a good fight for 6 or 7 rounds.  He made Floyd look uncomfortable at times and lasted until the 10th round.  He lasted 2 rounds against Manny Pacquiao and at no point during the match did he look like he had even a slight chance at winning.  I would say that Manny dominated Hatton, but that would be an understatement.  Manny landed 73 punches, Hatton threw 78.

Two fighters fight the same guy 18 months apart and the results are vastly different.  Again, you just can't ignore that.  I am not saying that because of this Manny will beat Floyd, but I am saying that this puts him right in Floyd's league (if he already wasn't).  Sure, Manny will have to go up to 145 if he fights Mayweather but we've seen him at that weight before and he was a straight killer.  Damn, the possibility of this fight happening is already getting me pumped.

Already knew, confirmed again: Manny Pacquiao is the best boxer on the planet.

If you wanted to build the perfect 140 pound boxer you basically just need to get Manny Pacquiao.  He is a complete boxer.  Great footwork, a great right and left, fast as hell, and when there's blood in the water he goes for the kill.  He is fun to watch and his fights never disappoint.  You can't say that about too many boxers.  You just don't take the best junior welterweight in the world and beat him in 6 minutes.  That just doesn't happen.  I still don't believe what happened last night.  It was the perfect performance from the world's best fighter.  And that's something no one can dispute.

Learned:  Manny Pacquiao is one of the best fighters of all time.

Manny now has 6 titles in 6 divisions, only the second fighter to ever accomplish this feat (Oscar de la Hoya).  Manny knew the importance of winning the fight saying, "It is very important for me to win [titles] in six different divisions for the people of my country.  Being a six-division champion, if that happens, people will want to put my name in boxing history, and that will be my legacy."  If he were to retire today where would we place him in the "best fighters of all time" discussion?  For now I will say he's at least one of the 15 best fighters of all time.  But a potential victory over Mayweather followed by a welterweight title belt fight (the current title holders are Sugar Shane Mosley, Andre Berto and Miguel Cotto, I'm drooling at the possibilities of a mega-fight at 147 lbs.) and you have no choice but to put him in the top 5 fighters of all time.  Seven belts in seven weight classes, plus victories over Morales, Barrera, Marquez, De la Hoya, Hatton and Mayweather (all Hall of Famers).  Sickening to think about (in a good way) so let's enjoy the ride while we still can.