It's fight week in Las Vegas. Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have been in town for more than a month preparing.
Hatton says Manny Pacquiao will be fighting an animal, and Mayweather says Pac-Man and Freddie Roach are scared. Hatton admits he understands why he's the underdog, but Manny is in for a long night on May 2.
The Hatton training camp has been closed to cameras most of the time, but that changes for one late sparring session. There seem to be a lot of people yelling at Ricky all the time, but he looks good. Floyd Sr. talks about his four-year old nephew, who he says is destined to be the next in line.
Camp is winding down for Pacquiao at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. Roach explains why it's necessary to have fighters wind down as the fight nears. Michael Moorer thinks Manny is emotionally ready.
Roach also adds that if they have Manny fight the wrong fight, it could be a long night. But he says that one of the things that makes Pacquiao so good is that he combines natural ability with the brain to carry out the plan laid out for him.
Team Pacquiao packs up for the drive from L.A. to Vegas. Manny sleeps in the passenger seat of an SUV.
Hatton's family, including his dad and fiancee Jennifer, arrive at the Vegas airport. She gets to see him right away, but Ricky says it has to be in small doses so he stays in the right frame of mind to destroy his opponent.
The Filipino media and a throng of fans awaits Manny's arrival at Mandalay Bay. Only Shane Langford remains behind to clean up at the Wild Card.
Hatton's eight-year old son Campbell did not make the trip, as Ricky does not want him to see his dad take punishment in the ring. He promises Campbell a holiday after the fight and talks about how hard it is to be away from his kid.
Father Ray does drop in to watch Ricky and Matthew (who fights on the undercard) go through some of their final training sessions. The mood in camp is confident and light, and some of the crew fools around wearing Ricky Hatton masks.
Hatton makes his arrival at the MGM Grand and faces the media and fans. Floyd Sr. sneaks into the empty arena sounding excited about the fight.
Pacquiao and company make a second, ceremonial arrival at the Mandalay Bay, which is flooded with his fans. Pac-Man signs some autographs before retreating to his bedroom, and we check in with Dionesia, Manny's mom, who is in town to watch Manny fight for the first time. She's nervous and is praying for her son.
Roach and Moorer do the final walk-through of their game plan. Describing his relationship with Pacquiao as like a father and son, Roach says he never expected them to get so close. Freddie speaks about his Parkinson's disease with determination, but says he'll walk away from the sport he loves so much if he gets to a point where he can't function.
The next day at the press conference, Floyd Sr. tries to lure Roach into a war of words but is unsuccessful.
The show ends with an extended sequence that uses boxing as a metaphor for life, set against video clips of the Las Vegas strip and all of the key players around Pacquiao and Hatton.
Posted by The Franchise
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
for what's it worth I wasn't overly impressed with the sparring footage out of the Hatton camp that they showed
I was giving him somewhat of the benefit of the doubt. They allowed the cameras to see so little of his sparring that honestly it was hard to form an opinion of him either way.
It does seem like a lot of things are pointing against Hatton tomorrow night. But it's boxing, so you never know.
looks like floyd jr is back.
Post a Comment