Manny Pacquiao on Tour: Met Ricky Hatton Face to face in England

Popular Flipino boxer Manny Pacquiao has finally met his boxing opponent Ricky Hatton in person. The two most popular boxers today met at the Trafford Shopping Center in Manchester, England as part of their promotional tour.

For the first time, famous Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao finally met his foe British boxer Ricky Hatton, in Manchester, England. Pacquiao arrived in London Friday and stayed at the Grosvenor House Hotel for the needed rest before proceeding to Manchester for the face to face meeting with Hatton. The trip to Manchester and his meeting with Hatton are part of the promotional requirements of their forthcoming fight. About 4,000 boxing fans including a sizable number of UK-based Filipinos attended the promotional presentation held at the Trafford Shopping Center. The popular boxer from the Philippines was accompanied by his promoter, Bob Arum, president of Top Rank, the company that handles the promotion of Pacquiao fights. Also in his entourage is popular trainer Freddie Roach who said his ward will win by knock out possibly in the ninth round. This is the first time that Manny traveled to UK. He said he hopes to see the Queen of England. Pacquiao was reported to have requested the Philippine ambassador to UK to arrange a possible audience with the Queen. He may be a great fan of the Queen and must have been fascinated by the beauty and rich history of England that he named her newborn daughter, Queen Elizabeth. ‘My dream was to come here to England and it has come true. I also have the desire to take the light welterweight title, and it’s a big honor to be in another fight which the fans want to see. Hatton’s style is very good. He’s strong, and for me it will be a big fight, and a crowd pleaser, he told The Sunday Telegraph. Manny Pacquiao is a professional Filipino boxer who fought and won over known world boxing champions including Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and David Diaz. His last fight was with Oscar de la Hoya last December 6, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He shocked the world boxing fans when he scored a knock out over the former US Olympic champion in their ‘Dream Match’. Ricky Hatton is England’s most popular professional boxer. He was undefeated in his professional boxing career until he lost to Floyd Mayweather, Jr., during their last encounter. He immediately recovered from the devastating loss and staged a successful come back by beating popular American boxer, Paulie Malignaggi late last year. The two world famous boxers are on their way to the United States to continue their promotional commitments for their May 2, 2009 encounter at the MGM Grand Garden arena I Las Vegas, Nevada.