Manny Pacquiao impressed plenty of boxing fans on Saturday night as he and WBC World Welterweight champion Mario Barrios fought to a draw.
Although fans feel Pacquiao did enough to beat Barrios, it was ‘El Azteca’ who left the ring with the welterweight title.
It is now two draws in a row for Barrios, whose record moves to 29-2-2. As for 46-year-old Pacquiao, his record stands at 68-8-3.
Pacquiao even impressed his opponent’s coach with his performance on Saturday night, as well as receiving some praise from a former foe, Ricky Hatton.
Ricky Hatton admits he was ‘worried’ for Manny Pacquiao prior to Mario Barrios fight
Hatton was knocked out by Pacquiao in the penultimate fight of his career in 2009. The meeting in Las Vegas would see ‘The Hitman’ fall to just his second professional loss with the second round stoppage.
Despite the nature of the fight, there is seemingly no ill-will between Hatton and Pacquiao.
Speaking to IFL TV the day after Pacquiao fought to a draw with Barrios, the Englishman gave his thoughts on the fight.
“Fighters like that come along once in a lifetime,” Hatton said about Pacquiao. “He proved it again last night.”
Despite being impressed by his performance, Hatton admitted, “I was genuinely worried about him last night. I thought he might have bit off a little more than he can chew.”
Describing Pacquiao’s draw with Barrios as an ‘outstanding achievement,’ Hatton then made an honest comparison with his own comeback.
Ricky Hatton feels he is not at the level of Manny Pacquiao to replicate ‘Pac-Man’ comeback
Hatton is set to return to the ring in December 2025, when he takes on Eisa Al Dah (8-3) in Dubai.
As Hatton has no title aspirations left at the current age of 46, he compared his comeback to professional boxing to Pacquiao’s, who stepped in to face Barrios at the same age.
Following his comments expressing concern for Pacquiao, Hatton said, “That’s my whole point. I’m not going at that level.”
“I’m going to make a comeback, and it’s going to be a good fight, it’s going to be an entertaining fight. But, as you know, I’m not as daft as I look.”
The former champion admitted that his last professional fight against Senchenko made him realize that he was no longer world class. “That [fight] told me I’m not world class no more. And I know I’m not world class today.”
Hatton went on to describe his upcoming return against Al Dah as a ‘winnable’ fight.