The Sporting calendar

Ricky Hatton is a rare breed of boxer, that cares more for his record than he does for his wages and the glamour.
I like the man, he’s humble, he’s funny, he’s not afraid to laugh at himself, but above all, he’s honest.
In the ring, Hatton will rip out his own heart and beat you with it, if he thought it would swing the fight his way, he is a warrior.

To me when he’s fighting, he is irritating!
I don’t like fighters who pressure, walking forward, easy to hit as they close down the ring space, as Mayweather showed, if you have the power, the counterpuncher will normally win later in the fight, but with Hatton, you get an added bonus, he is a great body puncher!
Nothing is more frustrating than watching a fighter struggling to catch his opponent, as their defence is good, for half the fight and they still don’t use the body shots.

With Hatton, he has a formidable body attack, which reminds me of the great Mike McCallum (the bodysnatcher), which makes Hatton my favourite to win in the later rounds as Manny runs out of steam (the step up in weights must have an effect at some point?)

The problem for me is that Manny isn’t like other fighters, in that as Hatton was forced to take his Mayweather fight at Mayweather’s preferred weight, Manny seems to carry his speed and some of his power over several higher weights.
His speed will cause problems early in the fight for Hatton, but looking at Manny’s fight record reveals that where he’s needed it the power has remained, even at a weight above light-welterweight.

With Mayweather training Hatton, I can see that having a fighter come up in weight to fight, would be to Hatton’s advantage, but many other dangerous world class fighters have thought the same thing and been found out!

This is one tough fight to call, but I am going with Hatton to win by late stoppage or points.
He must get body punches in from the start and mix his attacks, it doesn’t matter how effective a defence, body shots cannot be avoided, this will slow Manny down in the later rounds for Hatton’s power to tell.
The one big advantage for Hatton, is that in his defeat against Mayweather, he learnt a valuable lesson, patience!
Don’t rush in and take your time, or you will be picked off. Without the Mayweather defeat, Hatton’s style would not have changed a bit and he would be fighting the wrong fight come sunday morning.