Manny Pacquiao admitted his hand was still feeling a little bruised two hours after a booming left hook knocked out Britain’s Ricky Hatton in the second round of their eagerly awaited showdown on Saturday.
The Filipino challenger claimed the IBO light-welterweight title after sending Hatton sprawling to the canvas twice in the opening round, before knocking him out cold with one second remaining in the next.
“I believe it was a very hard punch,” Pacquiao said after improving his career record to 49-3-2 with 37 knockouts. “My hand still hurts.”
PHOTO: AP
Hatton’s assistant trainer Lee Beard said: “There was nothing Ricky could do. He got caught with a few good shots, he got back up and then obviously he got caught with that one big shot at the end.”
Although Pacquiao was widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Hatton was believed to hold a size advantage at his natural weight of 63.5kg in a division where he had never previously lost.
However, Pacquiao had always believed he would prove to be the stronger man.
“Before the fight, a lot of people think Ricky Hatton’s bigger than me, but I didn’t put that in my mind,” said the 30-year-old, who weighed only 48kg on his professional debut. “I still believe that my body’s bigger than Ricky. But with respect, he’s still a good fighter.”
Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum applauded the Filipino’s performance as “astounding” after his man had competed for only the third time above the super featherweight division.
“This kid improves with every single fight,” Arum said. “He’s doing things he wasn’t doing two or three years ago. His defense is now tremendous. His reflexes are tremendous. I have never seen any fighter combine the speed and the explosive power that he does.”
“I told Ricky Hatton not to be discouraged,” Arum said. “There are plenty of people out there for him to fight. Nobody in the world can beat this little Filipino.”
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach agreed.
“Manny’s unbelievable,” Roach said. “He makes me look good. He’s the best fighter in the world. He’s in his prime right now. He’s on top of his game. Anyone in the world, he can beat.”
Asked about the possibility of a clash with American Floyd Mayweather Jr, who announced earlier on Saturday he would return from retirement to fight Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18, Roach sounded doubtful.
He suggested instead future matchups with WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley and WBO holder Miguel Cotto.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS