HBO: Pacquiao - Hatton 24/7: Episode 1

The clash of the PacMan and the Hitman was one of the most exciting and emphatic victories for Manny Pacquiao, a tornado of speed, power and agility hailing from General Santos City, South Cotabato, Philippines. I watched the fight with a colleague and his friend at a bar in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, along with about 50 enthused albeit inebriated Brits shouting "C'mon Ricky!" and slightly fewer crazed Filipinos (mostly women) chanting "Manny Manny Manny". Pacquiao dropped Hatton twice in the first round, then finished the fight with a deafening left hook in the second; the Hitman was clearly out before he hit the canvas. As Hatton lay on the canvas with his hands above his head while the ref called the fight, the bar eruped into a raucous Flipino celebration while the Brits hung their head in the pints of beer, shocked that their countryman was stopped so early and in such shocking fashion.

For anyone that may have spent the last few weeks under a rock and not been aware of the buildup leading up to the fight, HBO did an excellent series chronicling the weeks leading up to the fight in both camps, taking a close look at the personal and public lives of these world-class athletes as well as the people surrounding them. The HBO series does a great job of capturing the intensity, motivations and dedication of these fighters, making it almost impossible not to root and feel for both fighters. I'm certainly happy for Manny, the quitely gracious and polite champion whose victory skyrockets him into the stratosphere of boxing greatness, as he is now being hailed as one of the greatest fighters of all time now that he has captured four belts in four different weight classes. But certainly you have to feel for Hatton and his millions of fans mourning his loss - who knows what will be now of the former champion.

These guys clearly love doing what they do, but ofcourse, there's a payday involved as well. By conservative estimates, the PacMan earned an estimated $2m USD per minute. Hatton earned a meager $8m as his 2nd place prize for the night.