| Date | May 2, 2009 | |
| Location | MGM Grand Garden Arena, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Title(s) on the line | The Ring light welterweight championship | |
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| Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao | ||
| The Hitman | Pac-Man | |
| Tale of the tape | ||
|---|---|---|
| Manchester, England, UK | From | General Santos City, Philippines |
| 45–1 (32 KO) | Pre-fight record | 48–3–2 (36 KO) |
| 5 feet, 7½ inches(1.73m) | Height | 5 feet, 6.5 inches(1.69m) |
| The Ring light welterweight champion | Recognition | The Ring‘s #1 pound for pound fighter in the world |
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| Result | Pacquiao wins via 2nd round KO | |
Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao, billed as The Battle of East and West, was a boxing match for The Ring light welterweight championship. The bout was held between Manny Pacquiao of General Santos, Philippines and Ricky Hatton from Manchester, United Kingdom.
The fight was held on May 2, 2009 at the MGM Grand Las Vegas at Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Hatton was knocked down by Pacquiao twice during the first round, and again in the second round to lose by KO in the 2nd round. Pacquiao's win makes him one of only two (the other being Oscar De La Hoya) to win six world titles in six different weight divisions at that time (he won his seventh world title in seventh weight division on November 14, 2009 against Miguel Cotto).[1]
A recreation of this fight is the playable demo for EA Sports' video game, Fight Night Round 4.
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With Pacquiao winning his bout against Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton was seen as the next opponent for Pacquiao. At mid-December, both boxers verbally agreed on a 50% split of the proceeds;[2] however, Pacquiao changed his decision to a favorable 60%–40% split of the pay-per-view (PPV) revenues, while Hatton wanted an even 50% split.[3] Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing said on January 22 that the fight "was off", citing Pacquiao's decision not to sign the contract. Arum increased Pacquiao's guaranteed purse to US$12 million from $11 million and a 52%–48% split. Pacquiao's camp asked for "more demands and the deal fell apart", he said.[4]
On January 23, with long-time friend Rex "Wakee" Salud,[5] Pacquiao signed the contract with the 52%–48% split and a $12 million purse, in favor of Pacquiao.[6][7]
In the Philippines, Pacquiao's home country, legal controversy developed involving broadcast rights to the fight and Pacquiao's early termination of a contract with a previous broadcast partner.
Initially, Solar Sports was expected to be the official broadcaster of the match in the Philippines, airing first on its pay-per-view channel Solar All-Access, with repeat airings on GMA Network and the Solar Sports channel. However, on March 16, rumors began to be spread stating that Solar Sports would not air the fight, and that Pacquiao had instead made a deal with a "giant network" to air the match.[9] Two days later, Pacquiao officially announced that he had reached a deal with ABS-CBN to serve as the broadcaster of the fight. Details of this contract were not disclosed.[10]
It was later revealed that Pacquiao had rescinded his contract with Solar because of late payments of the 60 million pesoes per fight that the company was expected to pay per fight under the current contract, which was originally supposed to last until 2011. However, Solar countered, claiming that "Pacquiao has no reasons [to leave] because we have settled all our [financial] obligations with him."[11] In response, Solar filed a lawsuit against both Pacquiao and ABS-CBN, seeking 150 million pesoes in damages. A representative for ABS-CBN countered the filing of the lawsuit, saying that it would fight to protect Pacquio's wishes. Solar denied claims that Pacquiao broke off from their deal because of delayed payments, adding that what they had not forwarded to the fighter were the "advance payments" he was seeking.[12] Pacquiao dares Solar to show financial records, including all of Pacquiao's fights aired on Solar. At their press conference, Solar handed out copies of its License Agreement to the media who attended the press conference. An investigation ABS-CBN News revealed that the payment details were omitted from the copies distributed. Solar executives went to Los Angeles to meet with Pacquiao to resolve the issues.[13]
However, after meeting with Solar executives, Pacquiao announced that he and Solar had "favorably resolved their unfortunate misunderstanding", Pacquiao said in a press statement. Furthermore, Pacquiao through his lawyer said that neither party violated the contract and that it is valid and binding.[14] Pacquiao furthermore apologized to his fans for any confusion that may have been caused by his decision to cut and then renew his ties with Solar Entertainment; ABS-CBN said for its part "we will not stand in the way if he decides to change his mind".[15]
Pacquiao and Hatton toured the United Kingdom for the promotion of their fight; while in the UK, Hatton beat Pacquiao in a game of darts. Hatton presented Pacquiao a Manchester City F.C. shirt after the game.[16]
Martin Nievera was chosen to sing the Lupang Hinirang, the Philippine national anthem, for Pacquiao's battle against Hatton. He was the first ever male singer to sing the anthem at Pacquiao's bout. Also, WWE star Batista led Pacquiao to the ring.[17] Sir Tom Jones sang "God Save the Queen" while American-raised Filipino-Mexican Jasmine Villegas sang "The Star-Spangled Banner."
As support for the fight, HBO aired "Pacquiao/Hatton: 24/7" for two weeks prior to the fight on television and on the internet;[18] it aired in the Philippines on GMA the night before the fight on May 2.
On April 22, Hatton labelled Pacquiao as a one-dimensional fighter: "Manny fights the same way all the time. He's effective at what he does but he's not a versatile fighter".[19] Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach shot back at Hatton saying his "Hitman" tag is accurate "because on May 2, Hatton is going to get hit, man, and a lot!" Roach also predicted that the fight wouldn't last for more than three rounds.[20] Pacquiao also took a break from training at the Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles to throw a ceremonial first pitch at the San Francisco Giants-San Diego Padres Major League Baseball game at the AT&T Park in San Francisco as part of the annual Filipino Heritage Night.[21]
At the April 30 press conference, the last before the fight, Hatton admitted that he was the underdog for the fight, but insisted he could still cause an upset. "I can understand I am the underdog but it doesn't scare me", adding that "He is the best pound for pound fighter but this is my weight division". He continued, "This fat, beer-drinking Englishman is going to shock the world again". Pacquiao was picked by Las Vegas bookmakers as the favorite prior to the fight.[22]
Hatton expected, (and got) 25,000 British fans to come and support him. This fight was Hatton's fifth in Las Vegas in less than 2½ years, and the MGM Grand Garden Arena sold out.[23]
Prior to the bout, it was reported that Hatton's camp was in "turmoil", with Roach's source saying that "that Hatton was miserable with Mayweather and was unhappy that Mayweather had arrived late for several workouts." Mayweather had addressed his issues with Hatton, his co-trainer Lee Beard, but wouldn't disclose the issues. Hatton has earlier said that he is happy with Mayweather, with whom he replaced his long-time trainer Billy Graham.[24]
Some have embraced the fact that Hatton and Pacquiao did not engage in any kind of rampant antagonism during the pre-fight hype, as is most characterized by Floyd Mayweather, Jr.; examples being his bouts against Oscar De La Hoya, where he mocked and abused his opponent in front of him, and Hatton, where some physical jostling was not unheard of. While both did try and downsize the other, there was a friendly and cordial atmosphere to the fighters' meetings, especially in Manchester.
In front of a sell out crowd of 16,262, Pacquiao knocked down Hatton twice in the first round: a right hook knocked down the Briton the first time; the other knockdown occurred after a combination by Pacquiao with 9 seconds left. In the second round, Pacquiao unleashed a left hook to knock Hatton out to end the bout 2:59 into the round.[25] Hatton sprawled helplessly on the canvass after Pacquiao's left hand, with referee Kenny Bayless's saying that "[he] didn't have to count." Hatton lay on the canvass for several minutes before getting up; he was eventually taken to a local hospital for a precautionary brain scan.[26]
Pacquiao's win makes him one of only two (the other being Oscar De La Hoya) to win six world championships in six different weight divisions at that time (he won his seventh world title in seventh weight division on November 14, 2009 against Miguel Cotto). The knockout won him the Ring Magazine knockout of the year for 2009.
The defeat was the second in Hatton's career but also his second in four fights, after a defeat to Floyd Mayweather, Jr.; the recent mixed performance, combined with the speed of the defeat to Pacquiao, led some to call for Hatton to retire.
The fight has a deep effect on Ricky Hatton. In one of his revelations, Hatton admitted that he almost committed suicide after losing to Pacquiao. The fight also forced Hatton to retire. [27]
Confirmed bouts:[28]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humberto Soto (c) | Benoit Gaudet | WBC super featherweight title | 9th round TKO. |
| Daniel Jacobs* | Michael Walker | Middleweight (10 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
| Matt Korobov | Anthony Bartinelli | Middleweight (4 rounds) | 2nd round TKO. |
| Erislandi Lara | Chris Gray | Junior middleweight (4 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
| Non-TV bouts | |||
| Matthew Hatton | Ernesto Zepeda | Welterweight (6 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
| Mike Alvarado | Joaquin Gallardo | Welterweight (8 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
| Abner Mares | Jonathan Perez | Bantamweight (8 rounds) | 6th round TKO. |
| Bernabe Concepcion | Yogli Herrera | Featherweight (6 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
| Omar Chávez | Tyler Zlolowski | Junior welterweight (4 rounds) | 2nd round KO. |
| Joe Murray | Missael Nunez | Lightweight (4 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
*James Kirkland (USA) was supposed to fight Walker in the undercard but his arrest on a weapons charge caused him to be struck off the card.[29] Daniel Jacobs (USA) was chosen to fight Walker instead.[30]
| Preceded by vs. Paulie Malignaggi |
Ricky Hatton's bouts May 2, 2009 |
Succeeded by Retired |
| Preceded by vs. Oscar De La Hoya |
Manny Pacquiao's bouts May 2, 2009 |
Succeeded by vs. Miguel Cotto |