by James Slater: He hasn’t even made his lightweight debut yet, but Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao is already making plans for what to do after he’s done so. Challenging WBC lightweight champion David Diaz on June 28th, Pac-Man will, if he’s successful, collect his fourth world title in different weight classes – but even that will not be enough for the pound-for-pound standout.
According to an article on Sky Sports recently, Pacquiao told Ring magazine that after he’s fought Diaz he wants to move up to 140 pounds and take on British superstar Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton.
“After Diaz I want to fight Ricky Hatton. That will be a good fight, Pacquiao said. “I’m 150 pounds right now. My sparring partners are always 140 to 150 pounds. It’s not a problem for me. And I’m not getting any younger – so why not?”
It’s hard to find fault with Pacquiao’s ambition. And a fight with Hatton would surely result in a great fight and a massively successful promotion. How could this fight fail to pack the fans in? But first things first, and Pac-Man must deal with the relentlessly determined and very tough David Diaz. Lose to the man from Chicago, and Manny can forget all about any future super fights.
As for Hatton, it seems he has a number of quite mouth-watering options open to him right now – the least appealing of which, it appears, is his proposed bout with Paulie Malignaggi. That fight seemed to be a dead-cert for November, but rumours persist that now that Floyd Mayweather has retired, Oscar De La Hoya will now box Hatton. And Pacquiao has now thrown his name into the Hatton ring and challenged Ricky also. As we know, money talks loudest in this game and it is very possible the Hatton-Malignaggi fight will fail to materialise after all.
Let’s face it, Hatton doesn’t figure to have too many good nights left in him. Should either a De La Hoya or a Pacquiao fight come his way with the express condition that it take place this year, Hatton would almost certainly forget all about his date with Malignaggi. And who could blame him? Which fights would make the better spectacles – Hatton Vs. Oscar or Manny, or Hatton Vs. “The Magic Man?”
Paulie Malignaggi may be getting left out in the cold. Of course, nothing is definite yet – far from it. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Hatton engages in a genuine mega fight this year, instead of taking the Malignaggi fight that was originally planned. We will soon know for sure.