Ricky Hatton Wants To Prove He’s The Best

Hatton Relishes Pacquiao Showdown

British boxer Ricky Hatton believes he can beat the “best” when he takes on Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.

Hatton takes on Manny Pacquiao, who stopped Oscar de la Hoya last month, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on 2 May.

“It will be an honour to meet Manny, the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, and I’m brimming full of confidence,” said Hatton.

“It’s doesn’t get better than this. I’m the biggest attraction in boxing,” the 30-year-old from Manchester added.

Hatton suffered his only defeat as a pro when he met Floyd Mayweather Jr, then rated the best pound-for-pound fighter, in December 2007.

Can Ricky Hatton beat Manny Pacquiao?
But the Mancunian says he will be better prepared this time around with the fight at his preferred 10 stone weight.

“I’ve challenged the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world once and came second. Now I’ve got another chance and I’m not going to let you down,” he said.

“That fight was at welterweight but I’ve always said that at light-welterweight there is no-one better than me in the world.

“With perseverance and hard work I believe I can become the best boxer in the world.”

Hatton predicted that his showdown with Pacquiao will be a classic.

“It’s going to be a cracking fight, if I wasn’t fighting Pacquiao I’d be a fan of his, and Ricky Hatton fights are never dull,” he said.

The fight was in danger of not going ahead after weeks of legal wrangling between the pair.

Pacquiao was insisting a greater share of the purse but Hatton’s camp never wavered from a 50-50 split and the Filipino boxer eventually agreed.

“It has been a very difficult few weeks. We had agreed the deal so two weeks ago I was delighted,” he said.

“I was devastated when I thought it was not going to be on and I told Gareth Williams (Hatton’s lawyer) I didn’t want to go back into training now knowing.

“I said ‘As much of an honour it is to be fighting Manny Pacquiao I don’t want to be sat around thinking who am I going to fight?’

“I said if it was not done in the next few days I would look for someone else.”