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The Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton fight taking place in Vegas Saturday night is helping to further boost traffic numbers for the Gambling911.com website, Senior Editor Payton O'Brien reported during the AM hours.
"This is a huge draw for gamblers and will be the most bet on fight of the year to date," she forecasts based on preliminary numbers.
The fight is set for 9 pm EST Saturday and heavier traffic numbers from those inquiring about betting on Pacquiao/Hatton were anticipated as the evening approached.
"Without this fight, The Kentucky Derby is our biggest traffic day of the year and Pacquiao/Hatton certainly help to inflate those numbers further," O'Brien says.
Manny Pacquiao, who currently is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter by most experts, has been compared to "Homicide Hank" recently because of his ability to bounce between weight classes for major fights.
Pacquiao has won world titles at 112, 126, 130 and 135 pounds and he has fought at 147 pounds.
In 2008, the Filipino sensation decisioned Juan Manuel Marquez to claim the WBC 130-pound title, he moved up to take the WBC 135-pound title from David Diaz with a ninth-round TKO and he moved up to welterweight to stop Oscar De La Hoya in the eighth round.
Now, Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) is going down to 140 pounds for his fight against Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs), who holds the Ring magazine super-lightweight belt, on Saturday at 6 p.m. PDT at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on HBO pay-per-view.
"I didn't know what that meant when I was getting ready for Oscar De La Hoya, I was only focused on the fight," Pacquiao said of the comparisons to Armstrong. "That was the only thought on my mind-the fight. But now I know how important Henry Armstrong was to boxing."
Odds on this fight were readily available at Sportingbet.com for those residing outside the United States.
SBG Global was taking bets from US citizens on the Pacquiao Hatton fight all day Saturday.
Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
