'Golden Boy' picks Hatton over Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – Oscar De La Hoya, the Golden Boy of boxing who was shamed by Manny Pacquiao in their “Dream Match last year," sees the fall of his Filipino conqueror to Ricky Hatton on May 2. De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions that co-promoted the “The Battle of East and West" fight, said “The Hit Man" is capable of doing what he failed at: Take out Pacquiao, the acknowledged best boxer in the planet. “I think Hatton will dethrone Pacquiao and become boxing’s (new) pound-for-pound king," De la Hoya said in a report posted by saddoboxing.com. Of course it is but natural for the decorated boxer-promoter to pick Hatton over Pacquiao in their forthcoming International Boxing Organization world junior welterweight championship fight in Las Vegas. For one, Hatton belongs to De La Hoya’s GBP stable of fighters and on a personal note, “Golden Boy" could be looking at avenging his defeat, albeit via the slugger from Manchester. The 30-year-old Pacquiao totally dominated De La Hoya in their Dec. 6 duel, surprising many pre-fight analysts who had predicted the larger and more experienced Golden Boy to prevail. The fight ended at the start of the ninth round when De La Hoya and his corner threw in the towel after receiving much pounding from the speedy Filipino. Like most fight fans, De La Hoya expects non-stop action in the Pacquiao-Hatton tiff. “We are very excited that this fight has been made as it is the fight fans wanted and the one I look forward to seeing myself. This fight has the makings of a Fight of the Year candidate," De la Hoya said. -GMANews.TV