Trainer: Pacquiao ready to rumble

This early, Manny Pacquiao is ready to tangle with Ricky Hatton.
Filipino trainer Buboy Fernandez made this observation Sunday, three weeks before the boxing hero guns for Hatton’s International Boxing Organization junior welterweight crown on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“His (Pacquiao’s) body is 100 percent condition already,” Fernandez told an evening newscast in Filipino on Monday. “He just needs to maintain his road work and movements so that he’ll be 100 percent focused on fight night.”
Fernandez, who is also Pacquaio’s bosom friend, is assisting training guru Freddie Roach, former world champion Michael Moorer and conditioning expert Alex Ariza in whipping the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter into tiptop shape at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
In an earlier report, Ariza, who supervises Pacquiao’s early morning roadwork and strengthening exercises, disclosed that Pacquiao’s weight hovers around 149 lbs, just nine pounds off the limit.
Hatton, on the other hand, reportedly weighs 150 with no diet restrictions in his training camp headed by Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Team Pacquiao is expected to motor over to the Sin City and taper off his training at the IBA Gym less than a week before the fight that guarantees the protagonists at least $12 million, excluding pay-per-view sales.

Source: Phil Daily Inquirer

Pacquiao: KO not my game plan

Don't expect Manny Pacquiao to win by knockout over Ricky Hatton in their May 2 showdown in Las Vegas for the Briton’s WBO light welterweight title.
No, the pound-for-pound king has not lost his killer instinct. He just wants to concentrate on the fight and exploit Hatton’s weaknesses, which the Filipino said are aplenty.
“I expect him to be coming forward and fight toe-to-toe, and I like that,” Pacquiao told www.mirror.co.uk. “I’m not looking for a knockout.”
“I don’t want any distractions in my mind,” the Filipino superstar added.
Pacquiao expects Hatton to “walk into his shots because of his aggressive, come-forward style.
“We see a lot of weakness in Hatton,” Pacquiao claimed.
Hatton, in a conference call with reporters as reported by www.fighthype.com, points to two key factors for the fight: Technical skills and the fighter who goes backwards.
“Both of us don’t go backwards and that is the key to the fight,” Hatton said. “Whoever ends up going backwards is going to lose.”
He does fight toe-to-toe, Hatton said, but he also punches hard and has more technical know-how than the four-division champion.
“I’m showing technical ability that he didn’t think I had at first,” Hatton claimed. “That’s going to shock Manny more than the size and power aspect.”
Hatton credits Floyd Mayweather Sr., who replaced his long-time trainer Billy Graham, for his new strength.
“Floyd has given me a new lease on life,” said Hatton, adding that his win over Paulie Malignaggi last November showed his vast improvement under his new trainer.
“I proved in my last fight that I have a much better jab, a stronger punch and speed, too.”

Surce: Phil. daily Inquirer