Pacquiao floors Hatton in 2. Wins IBO Junior Welterweight Title.

The new champ is here: Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao defeated
Britain's Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton for the IBO Junior Welterweight championship
at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

What more can I say? Manny Pacquiao is THE best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today. A lot of fight fans predicted Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton would win (via KO) against the Filipino Southpaw. Even boxing pundits favored Hatton over Pacquiao. But lo and behold, Pacquiao still came out on top albeit doubts and criticisms. Who would've thought it'd be that damn quick? Nobody saw that coming. Well, except for Freddie Roach maybe.

Before the match, WWE Superstar Batista was in Manny Pacquiao's entourage. That itself is a huge honor for The Animal. Jack Nicholson was in attendance, so is Mark Wahlberg (no surprise), Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Diddy (dropping the 'P'), Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins and even Denzel Washington.

I have to say Martin Nievera's "Lupang Hinirang", the Philippines' national anthem, didn't disappoint (I'm not sure about the others). He was rocking the shirt of the late Francis Magalona's clothing line. Sir Tom Jones looked really old. He sang Britain's national anthem and Fil-Am Jasmine Villegas sang "Star Spangled Banner".

Unlucky number 2

I mentioned earlier that the main event didn't last quite as long. Trainer Freddie Roach predicted a knockdown on the British slugger in 3, or so he thought. Pacquiao put Hatton out of his misery in 2. "The Hitman" went down twice in the first round after getting a series of rights and lefts from Pacman. His brawl tactics didn't help him at all. It just made Hatton more vulnerable to Manny's offensive attack. He would soon falter in the 2nd round.

Lights out: Ricky Hatton succumbed to Manny Pacquiao's thunderous left hook
in the dying seconds of the 2nd round.
(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Time wasn't on Hatton's side. The last 10 seconds of round 2 was perhaps the worst for the British slugger, getting decked with Pacquiao's patented left hook to his jaw. Hitting the canvass lying flat on his back, counting birds/stars/sheep and all. The referee didn't bother counting at all. He was already in LALA Land. What a way to end your title reign. Having his first loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr was bad enough. His match with Pacquiao is a nightmare he's so willing to forget. And everybody thought he would be resilient along the way. Retirement could perhaps be in the horizon for "The Hitman" after being PWN3D by Pacman.

6 is a charm

Manny Pacquiao's TKO victory on Ricky Hatton, he's now one of the few fighters who has held multiple titles in different weight classes. He has another fight coming up in a few months which could perhaps be his last fight before hanging up his gloves to run for Congress(!) in the 2010 elections. After winning his IBO Junior Welterweight championship, I believe he's gonna move up to the Welterweight division and challenge (reportedly) Floyd Mayweather Jr. He already has a spot in the boxing Hall of Fame but clearly, he wants more gold bling before retiring for good. Going for title number 7 maybe? Who knows? It could happen.

Steve Nash hearts Pacquiao and the Filipinos

I was actually surprised upon learning this. I logged on to my Twitter account a while ago and I read his tweet about how great Manny Pacquiao is. So glad I'm following him on Twitter. He even mentioned he wants to be an honorary Filipino and admired the Filipino fans support for Pacman:

Big love to all my Filipinos for the AMAZING PACMAN! Love how u support him. I wanna be an honorary Filipino! How do I earn my stripes?

Wow! Talk about huge love for Manny Pacquiao coming from top NBA players like Steve Nash. I would assume he wants to visit the Philippines. Nike Philippines better make this happen. He's got a huge fan base here (I'm actually one of them). I'm gonna have to buy a Suns Steve Nash jersey one of these days and have him sign it if ever he pays Manila a visit. Manny's popularity sure is getting bigger and bigger.

Many thanks to Twitter for creating this website. I get to follow popular people especially in sports. If Manny Pacquiao had a Twitter account, a lot of his fans would follow him.

******

The Pacquiao-Hatton fight is by far, one of the best matches I've ever seen. It may be the shortest in his career but a lot would agree with me that it was one hell of a slugfest. Pacman is on a roll right now. I can't wait for his next and last fight in the coming months. He has indeed made the country proud yet again and he's truly a world class athlete. He's definitely on top of his game. No doubt about it.

Word to Floyd Mayweather Jr: You're next.