Pacquiao inspires Matthew Hatton -- Examiner

By Ricardo Lois, Examiner.com

Anaheim - Brought in to be the sacrificial lamb for rising boxing superstar Saul Alvarez, Matthew Hatton went 12 rounds Saturday night at the Honda Center against the young Mexican in a losing affair and cited Filipino pound for pound great Manny Pacquiao as his inspiration.

At the official weigh-in Friday afternoon, Alvarez came in over the contracted weight of 150 pounds and Hatton’s brother and promoter Ricky suggested that he walk away and cancel the bout.

Instead of derailing an event attended by approximately 10,000 fight fans and broadcast on HBO, the Brit’ said the show would go on - even though Hatton find himself out-gunned by a younger, bigger fighter.

Where did Hatton’s inspiration to fight on against a bigger man originate from? The one and only Manny Pacquiao.

“Size is not everything,” said Hatton, “Manny Pacquiao is a living testament.”

So when the bell rang to mark the beginning of the first round on Saturday night, most pundits expected Hatton to be knocked out by Alvarez within the scheduled twelve rounds.

Instead Hatton showed resolve and grit by surviving Alvarez’s barrage over twelve rounds and providing the paying public a memorable scrap.

Now doubt, Alvarez won a one-sided affair, but when the final cards were read, Hatton stood proud fueled by the legacy of a fighter who has scaled several weight classes and utterly destroyed bigger men.

Source: examiner.com

Mayweather surfaces; Pacquiao mystery deepens -- Philippine Daily Inquirer

By Percy D. Della, Philippine Daily Inquirer

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA—Floyd Mayweather Jr., not exactly the Howard Hughes of boxing, resurfaced a couple of days ago.

Just turned 34 and devoid of a fight for 10 months, Mayweather (41-0 with 25 knockouts) has not been met with applause by boxing fans as he figures in a possible fight in South Africa around the time of Nelson Mandela’s birthday.

Jeff Mayweather, Money’s uncle, has told a boxing website he is dealing with his nephew for a possible bout with a still unnamed opponent to honor the celebrated freedom fighter on his 93rd year on July 18. Talks are ongoing with Mandela’s daughter, Jeff said.

Jeff told Percy Crawford of www.fighthype.com that “it’s a major event in terms of not just Floyd fighting Manny Pacquiao, but to be involved in a historic event in terms of it being done with Mandela.”

Adds Mayweather’s uncle breathlessly: “You have physically two of the most powerful black men that you see and Mandela is definitely one of them, (US President) Obama, and then after that you would probably say (former US Secretary of State) Colin Powell, so to be part of an event like that is a big deal.”

“To be invited to Mandela’s birthday is phenomenal,” he says, but everything hinges on Floyd. “I still will talk to Floyd and find out exactly what he wants and things like that and see if we can make it happen.”

Meantime, a Mayweather-Pacquiao tiff awaited by the universe has been stalled forever, and a Floyd fight has come once in a blue moon since he scored a unanimous decision over Shane Mosley last May.

You don’t need a slight jab in the head to know that Mosley fights Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 7.

* * *

Speaking of Pacquiao, the mystery of his recent visit to the White House continues to deepen since a photograph or video of his rare encounter with President Obama still has to surface—specially in the sporting and Filipino media—to this day.

According to an Associated Press story, datelined Washington and bylined by Joseph White on the day of his visit, Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee reportedly talked boxing and basketball with Obama.

White, citing Pacquiao publicist Fred Sternburg, wrote that the eight-division world champion even posed for several photos with the most powerful man on the planet, including a boxing pose in the Oval office.

Do we get to see those pictures soon? It’s been really odd why the White House clamped an embargo on the picture record of the visit.

Or was it recorded at all?

And logging on to the White House web site after the fact adds more strangeness to the whole thing.

A glance at the President’s calendar for February 13 to 18 did not show the Pacquiao visit on either Feb. 15 or 16. It was probably inserted at the last minute, through Nevada Sen. Harry Reid whose political endorsers during a tough race last November included Pacquiao.

On Feb. 16, Senate Democrats led by Reid were penciled in to see Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at 2:20 p.m.

For the month of February, the only sporting item on the President’s calendar was a call on Feb. 7 to Super Bowl coach Mike McCarthy, extolling him in leading the Green Bay Packers to victory and looking forward to a White House visit by the football world champions.

How would you describe Pacquiao’s White House visit?

For me, weird’s the word.

Source: inquirer.net