Nothing can be taken away from Pacquiao's performance this time. There was no old legend that had to cut more weight than he was accustomed to. What stood in Pacquiao's way was the reigning junior welterweight champion. A fighter renowned for his strength and his power. And he was completely outmatched against the pound for pound king.

Both men were oozing confidence prior to the match. As Hatton strutted out to the ring, the look of pure concentration and focus, Pacquiao followed as happily and cheerfully as one could be. That demeanor quickly changed when the opening bell sounded.

While Pacquiao was supposed to have a hand and foot speed advantage, it was much more overwhelming than anyone could have imagined. Hatton got a hold of the quick Pacquiao a few times to try to rough him up on the inside. But Pacquiao was by and large able to dart in and out and launch his own combinations.

The trouble started for Hatton when Pacquiao launched a lead right hook. The punch met a completely unguarded and open Hatton, who spun around to the canvas. Hatton composed himself and got up to continue the fight.

However, he was now facing the whirlwind storm of a full force Manny Pacquiao attack. This time it was his signature punch, a straight left hand, that sent him down. The lighting quick straight left burst through Hatton's guard and landed on his forehead, sending him down for the second time in the round.

In between the first and second rounds, Hatton sat in his corner with a look of complete astonishment. Who could blame him? He was just hit by a truck and didn't even see it coming, and he had to go back out there to get hit by the truck again.

Hatton only lasted until the end of that second stanza. Pacquiao leveled him this time with a left hook that left Hatton straightened and belly up on the canvas. There would be no count necessary, the semi conscious Hatton would lay there on the canvas for several minutes.

It was a fantastic performance for Pacquiao. And now boxing fans can await an even larger event. Floyd Mayweather has made his return to the ring official, and his stated purpose is to prove that he's still the pound for pound best.

In July he will face off against Juan Manuel Marquez, the fighter who has given Pacquiao so much trouble in the past. It is no coincidence that Mayweather chose Marquez, he's looking to gauge his skills in preparation for a massive fight against the Filipino icon.

Pacquiao did his part by besting Hatton, and doing it in a fashion to belittle the accomplishment of Mayweather, who needed ten rounds to do the same job. Now Mayweather must take care of Marquez so that boxing fans can have the match of their dreams, the last two pound for pound kings, as different in the ring and out of the ring as they can be, putting it all on the line to finally settle the question of who's better.

The beautiful thing about a fight, however, is that come fight night all of the hype can be put aside. There's no more time for life stories and goals. No more time for big mouthed trainers. It's just two men staring each other down in that ring. The better man will almost always emerge.

Meet the Combatants

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao

Height: 5'7" Reach: 67"

48 (36) - 3 - 2

Recognized Number 1 Pound for Pound

Best Wins: KO3 & TKO10 Erik Morales; TKO11 & UD Marco Antonio Barrera), SD Juan Manuel Marquez, TKO8 Oscar De La Hoya

Last 5 fights: 5-0, 3 knockouts, spanning 3 weight classes

Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton

Height: 5'7" Reach: 65"

45 (32) - 1

Recognized Junior Welterweight Champion

Best Wins: TKO11 Kostya Tszyu; KO4 Jose Luis Castillo; TKO11 Paulie Malignaggi

Last 5 fights: 4 -1, 2 knockouts, spanning 2 weight classes

Pacquiao vs. Hatton Preview

Manny Pacquiao is the dynamo. He has been storming up through the weight classes and toppling every foe he faces. Ricky Hatton is the rebounding champion looking for redemption. He has fought one pound for pound champion before and he got knocked out. He has a chance to fix that stain on his record. How will this fight between respected champions play out?

Going into his fight with Oscar De La Hoya, many people were counting Manny Pacquiao out. He had only had one fight above 130 pounds in his career, and that was a stoppage win over the dreadfully overmatched titleholder David Diaz. Meanwhile, De La Hoya had been taking on middleweights and junior middleweights for a decade.

Ultimately, that would his downfall as he drained himself cutting weight and was but a shadow of himself on fight night. Regardless, Pacquiao put on an overwhelming show, beating Oscar to the punch and beating him up, out of the fight and out of the boxing world for good.

It's easy to forget after that performance that it was but a year ago when the majority of people who saw the fight felt that fellow 130 pound fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez, out-boxed Pacquiao to an easy decision win only to have the decision be handed to the thrilling, action brawler.

Could it be possible that a win over an aged and weight drained De La Hoya has left the world overestimating the abilities and capabilities of Manny Pacquiao? Surely he can't keep on moving up in weight and taking out champions indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Ricky Hatton is the underdog in a fight despite being the recognized number one man in the division. His move up to welterweight was a failed venture. He had a scare against Luis Collazo and then was knocked out by then pound for pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather Jr. Since, he looked less than stellar in beating Juan Lazcano before regaining some form en route to stopping Paulie Malignaggi last November.

The two men share a common weakness: slick, counterpunching boxers. Pacquiao met his in Juan Manuel Marquez and Hatton his in Floyd Mayweather. Neither faces such a problem in one another. So how will their styles clash?

Both fleet of foot and both packing power, their styles are still contrasting. Pacquiao, the southpaw, focuses on throwing his right jab followed by his thunderous straight left. Hatton throws quick half-jabs before jumping inside to throw hooks to the body. Hatton, also a dedicated clincher and mauler on the inside, holds after he throws punches to stymie his opponents' counterpunching.

That brings us to the first major question of the fight, will Hatton able to catch Pacquiao and hold onto him, throwing him off his game? Or will Pacquiao be able to dart in and out as he did against De La Hoya?

The second major question in the fight is how each man will cope with the other's power. Pacquiao will be facing a legitimately hard punching junior welterweight, something he has never seen before. While Pacquiao's power may not be as daunting as Kostya Tszyu's, it combines with his speed to make his punches an altogether different and more dangerous weapon set for Hatton to face as well.

Pacquiao vs. Hatton Prediction

Expect the early rounds to see Pacquiao jumping in and landing a few good 1-2 combinations. He will attempt some flurries but will miss a good deal of the shots, although the crowd will think otherwise. Hatton will have some success, missing most of his powerful body punches but getting a hold of Pacquiao enough to make the rounds close.

As Pacquiao picks up his pace after three or four rounds, he will begin opening up his repertoire of punches beyond his standard jab-left combo. Incorporating his uppercut will prove to be a decisive factor, as Hatton's leaps inside will leave him vulnerable to Pacquiao's powerful and quick shots.

Hatton's hopes rest on his ability to land a game changer. Either a thudding left hook to the body or head could leave Pacquiao reeling. Unfortunately for Hatton, Pacquiao fights hardest when in trouble, and Hatton would not want to see a wounded, fire breathing, 20-punch-at-a-time throwing Manny Pacquiao.

By round 5 or 6, Hatton will begin to cut and bruise. The round by round accumulation of punishment will start to slow him down. Powered on by his rowdy, chanting group of traveling supporters he will still prove to be dangerous, never giving up. However, the damage will eventually build up to an insurmountable degree.

After soldiering on through rounds of punishment, landing only minimal punches, the ref, or the corner, will step in to save Hatton in round 10.

Pacquiao TKO10 Hatton

Next up for Manny Pacquiao should hopefully be a monster of a fight against Floyd Mayweather. The fight would be a dream contest of opposing styles featuring the last two pound for pound champions. Be sure to catch the Pacquiao Hatton fight on May 2nd to see what happens.

After Malignaggi came out in the first round of the fight and won the round, it looked as though he may be able to edge out a hard fought decision. But as I predicted, Malignaggi had nothing to keep the Hitman off of him, and Hatton waded in and started throwing hooks and huge right hands. Some of those caught and hurt Paulie in the following rounds, and soon Hatton began to take control of the bout.

The first round aside, Malignaggi likely didn't win a round the rest of the fight. And with his low KO percentage, there was almost a zero percent chance that he would come back and win the fight. That being said, I do not agree with the stoppage of the bout. I understand that Buddy McGirt, a formerly great fighter, empathizes with his fighters and doesn't want to see them hurt. However - and as Paulie said in the post fight interview - he got it much worse from Miguel Cotto without quitting, and should have been allowed to finish the fight.

I'm all for protecting the fighters, and truly that is one of the most important and perhaps most overlooked elements of the boxing world. However, Hatton wasn't unleashing a devastating barage of shots, beating Paulie to a pulp. He was grinding him down and getting effective blows him, but I don't feel like Malignaggi was in any danger of injury. And while you sometimes stop a fight to save a fighter's ego and confidence level, I feel in the long run this hurts Paulie, as you could visibly see how distraught he was with the result and the perception of his performance.

You can't take anything away from Ricky Hatton though. Did he work his way into the top 10 pound for pound fighters again? Well, probably not, although you never know. He won a fight he was expected to win, although many people picked against him. It does seem that he is on the end of his rope though, and there's only so much more his body could take. I guess we will soon see who his next opponent is, although to be perfectly honest, I care not to see him against either Oscar De La Hoya nor Manny Pacquiao.

Preview of Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi

Both Ricky Hatton and Paulie Malignaggi only have one loss on their records. As mentioned, Hatton's one loss came at the hands of Floyd Mayweather, one of the best pure boxers of the last several decades. Paulie Malignaggi has always held Mayweather in the highest of esteems, and has taken strides to emulate him. Malignaggi though is known for a serious deficit in punching power (those 5 knockouts stick out like a sore thumb!), and a tendency to fight the other guy's fight even when it's against his best interests. This happened in his one defeat, against top welterweight Miguel Cotto, when he got pummeled and battered succumbing to Cotto's dictation of the fight, despite showing great heart in the losing effort.

Neither Ricky Hatton nor Paulie Malignaggi has looked to be at their best in their last several performances. So both need the win, and both need to look impressive in doing so. Ricky Hatton's style consists of doing the dirty work inside. He'll throw a hook or a short jab, pounce inside, and begin to maul his opponent. Interestingly enough, Hatton brought on Floyd Mayweather Sr. to be his new trainer. While the big name trainer, and father of his conqueror is an effective tutor, the style he preaches is so far removed from anything Hatton has done for his whole career, it's questionable how well that combination will work out.

Malignaggi on the other hand bases his game around footwork and a quick jab. He'll open up as he begins to gain more control, and if his hands hold up long enough to allow him to do so. He has had a long history of breaking his hands, which has limited his ability to throw strong combinations and sit down on his punches appropriately and forcefully.

Whereas Floyd Mayweather was able to perfectly time Ricky Hatton's movements, and take advantage with powerful counter shots, Malignaggi's punches lack the speed and other-worldly timing of Mayweather's. Hatton should be able to close the distance on Malignaggi, as nothing that Paulie offers in return will be able to keep Hatton at bay. Additionally, Malignaggi may get caught up in the toe-to-toe clinch battle that works to Hatton's advantage. If Paulie is to win the fight, he has to constantly circle Hatton and avoid getting held up on the ropes or in the corner. If he can get his jab working, doubling and tripling it up, he may be able to control Hatton's assault.

This fight seems like it will be a tough one to score. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a split decision or a close decision in either direction. My official prediction however is that Hatton will be able to move inside, past Malignaggi's feather fisted punches, and do enough work to win a majority of the rounds. We'll see a Ricky Hatton victory, by close and sloppy unanimous decision.

Betting Odds for Hatton vs. Malignaggi

Over at the Bodog Sportsbook, the official betting odds on Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi are:

• Ricky Hatton - 240
• Paulie Malignaggi +190

Over/Under 11.5 Rounds 

• Over -325
• Under +250

So if you're a Paulie Malignaggi fan, some good odds for the upset, while Ricky Hatton fans aren't getting awful odds on the favorite. And if you think somebody can pull off the stoppage, great odds on betting the under. If you want to bet on Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi, the Bodog Sportsbook is the place to do it.