Pacquiao KOs Hatton in 2nd round

Monday, 04 May 2009 16:46 Tinette Panogot

The hype took longer than the actual fight.

After months of bargaining, promotion and controversy , it took less than six minutes for Manny Pacquiao to knock out British boxer Ricky Hatton in their title match in front of a star-studded audience at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada last Saturday, 2 May 2009.

According to Telegraph.co.uk, Hatton "started well" while Pacquiao "started slowly" but then launched an all-out assault, sending Hatton to the canvas twice in the first round. At the end of the second round, Pacquiao unleashed his trademark, a picture-perfect left hook which knocked Hatton out cold for several minutes.

Referee Kenny Bayliss didn't even bother to count. "I did not count," Bayliss is quoted by the Telegraph as saying. "I called the fight over because Ricky was glazed in his eyes and was showing no motion to get back up."

When Hatton regained consciousness, he was taken to Valley Hospital "as a precaution".

Pacquiao had landed 73 of his 127 punches, while Hatton connected only 18 of 78.

"Bitin"

Filipinos all over the world celebrated Pacquiao's victory, although many complained that the fight was too short. "Bitin (It was over too soon)," Inquirer Sports quotes a Pacquiao fan as saying.

"Walang lasa, kulang (It was bland, lacking in flavor)," a couple of fans said in another Inquirer Sports article.

Another fan had shelled out P250 (around USD5) of his hard-earned money to watch the fight. "I know Manny would win but it would have been better if the fight had lasted for at least five rounds so I would have gotten my money's worth," he said in Filipino. "It was finished even before I could warm my seat."

Thousands flocked to public gymnasiums all over the Philippines to watch live telecasts of the match for free. Some of them had waited for hours to watch Pacquiao fight.

The country stood still

During the fight, the Pacquiao magic again worked its charm. Philippine streets were deserted and traffic suddenly disappeared as Filipinos either watched or listened to the fight at home, or flocked to pay-per-view or free screenings of the live telecast. Crime dropped to zero.

Priests reportedly hurried through mass so that their flock could go home early and watch the fight. Palarong Pambansa games in Tacloban were suspended so that the giant screen used to monitor events at the national sportsfest could be used to show the Pacquiao-Hatton fight. Even soldiers and guerrillas in Mindanao were said to have stopped fighting to follow the match on TV.

Into the realm of legend

"I hesitate to judge people in the middle of a career, but this is one of the most phenomenal stories of recent boxing history," boxing historian Bert Sugar is quoted by CNN as saying.

"It'll go down as one of the hardest punches in championship fight history, akin to Rocky Marciano's one-punch flattening of Jersey Joe Walcott in their heavyweight title fight in 1952," CNN said of the punch that knocked out Ricky Hatton.

"I think I've seen bigger left hands, but I really can't remember when. Mind you, Manny Pacquiao's other mitt wasn't too shabby either," Ben Dirs of BBC Sport commented.

After regaining his senses, Hatton said of Pacquiao, "He's a monster, the best fighter in the world."

As a result of this match, Pacquiao added Hatton's International Boxing Organization's and Ring Magazine's light welterweight crowns to his collection of titles: lightweight, super-featherweight, light-featherweight, featherweight and flyweight, says CNN.

Aside from winning a sixth world title in as many divisions, Pacquiao goes down in history as the only boxer who fought -and won-- four successive fights in as many weight classes.

The Associated Press's Tim Dahlberg called Pacquiao "the new king of boxing." Promoter Bob Arum, on the other hand, called Pacquiao "the greatest boxer that ever lived," according to Manila Bulletin.

Photo "Manny Pacquiao" by bammm2008 on flickr; licensed under Creative Commons License BY-NC-2.0.

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites