Ricky Hatton “Mayweather’s not quite looked the force he was”

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Ricky Hatton Floyd Mayweather Manny PacquiaoFormer champion Ricky Hatton sat down for an extended interview with Kugan Cassius for iFL TV. In it, he discussed his thoughts on the upcoming super-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Having been in the ring with both, one would expect Hatton’s familiarity with the fighters to run a bit deeper than most, but even he remains skeptical about his familiarity with Pacquiao after being dispatched in under two rounds. Following some reflection and a few laughs about his own shortcomings against the fighters, Hatton opened up about the fight. He began with giving the edge to Mayweather, but only slightly.

“If you were asking me I’m gonna put my last pound on, I think I uh, I think I’ll put it on Mayweather but only by the narrowest of margins. I mean, I always thought Mayweather would beat Pacquiao but lately against Maidana, Mayweather’s not quite looked the force he was… and since Pacquiao got beat by Marquez, he’s started to look a little bit better.”

He then proceeded to do a bit of a breakdown of the fight and what it would take to beat Mayweather, whom he obviously still has tremendous respect for.

“Pacquiao is quicker, I think… but if I was in Pacquiao’s corner I’d say you know, do the exact same tactics you did against Oscar De La Hoya, in, out, in, out, fast speed, movement”

After years of hearing people demand pressure from Floyd’s opponents, it is refreshing to hear something different. Hatton cited Zab Judah’s performance against Floyd as an example of this technique causing a bit of trouble for him and then explained how it might be used to exploit Floyd’s dreaded “shoulder roll”.

Hatton says that the “shoulder roll” is best against opponents that habitually charge forward, and cited himself and Canelo as examples. He believes that if Manny can get in, flurry and get out of there, he may be able to minimize the use and effectiveness of Floyd’s ‘roll.

We can now add Ricky Hatton to the list of people that think they have an answer to Floyd’s legendary “shoulder roll”. I wouldn’t say he is “off” with his assessment but until we see someone land on Floyd consistently, we may have to start accepting that there may be no answer at all.