Hatton slams Pacquiao credentials

RICKY HATTON V MANNY PACQUIAO
Venue: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, USA
Date: Sunday 3 May
Start: Approx: 0400 BST Coverage: Full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live

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Hatton faces Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Casino

Ricky Hatton has labelled Manny Pacquiao one-dimensional ahead of their light-welterweight super-fight in Las Vegas on 2 May.

Hatton said: "Manny fights the same way all the time. He's effective at what he does but he's not a versatile fighter.

"He's never met a man as fiery, ferocious or rough as me, and certainly not as big and strong.

"I don't think Manny is the most elusive. He comes very square-on and he's there to be hit."

Hatton added that Pacquiao's demolition of Oscar de la Hoya in his debut at welterweight last December did not prove the former flyweight was capable of holding his own.

The Mayweather fight changed my career. I had too many fights where there was no real thought in the way I was fighting Ricky Hatton

"If he gets hit he's going to get hit by the biggest man he's ever faced," said Hatton, 30, who has been beaten just once in 46 fights.

"I don't think Manny has fought at this weight before. With respect to Oscar, he was fighting a punching bag that night."

Hatton is putting the finishing touches to his first full camp with new trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr, who masterminded Hatton's win over Paulie Malignaggi last November.

And he maintains he is now a far better fighter than the one who was knocked out in 10 rounds by Mayweather's son, Floyd Jr, in December 2007.

606: DEBATE Roach really has done a superb job changing Manny's approach. I still don't think his defence is great but his speed makes up for this GerardMcL

"I think the Mayweather fight really changed my career," said Hatton. "I had too many fights where there was no real thought in the way I was fighting and that culminated in my loss to Floyd [Jr].

"I said to myself, 'come on Ricky, you've always had the ability, you just aren't using it any more'.

"That's why I went to work with Floyd [Sr]. And I think you've already seen the difference."

Filipino superstar Pacquiao, a former world champion at four different weights, is odds-on favourite with the bookmakers to prevail in the fight at the MGM Grand Casino, which will take place in front of a sell-out crowd of 16,000.