By Hermie Rivera

New Year and new enemy for the Philippines boxing hero Manny Pacquiao.

This, as he battles the British hitman Ricky Hatton in a no-frills punch-out in Las Vegas , Nevada .

After heated negotiations on how to split the pie, both camps settled for an equitable sharing of their huge pot.

That’s the latest word from the promoters—extras remain hidden.

Everybody happy?

You betcha.

Oscar de la Hoya wants it at the site of his past debacles against Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, three of his noted tormentors.

Remember when we batted for a Pac/Hat match but got waylaid for a dream ‘mismatch’?

We failed to land last year’s one-sided thriller owing to Oscar’s insistence in getting hammered ahead of the Briton—an 8th round battering courtesy of the Filipino nonpareil.

In Hatton, Pacquiao is wary of a threat to his fabled pound-for-pound edge due to the Brit’s consistency in mauling his victims.

But that’s the least of Manny’s worries as he winds-up his party days preparatory to his going into training at his Hollywood camp.

Hatton is set to do his thing at a Las Vegas gym with his wily trainer or is it a stand-up comic named Floyd Mayweather Senior after a three week stint as his Manchester sweatshop.

Kayoed by Floyd Mayweather Junior, the Bristish-puncher is aching to end Manny’s reign of torture on elite jr.-lightweights Marco Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Marquez, lightweight David Diaz and welterweight Oscar de la Heist—oops—Hoya.

That’s clear in Hatton’s plans as laid out by his handlers who are zeroing in on Pacquiao’s 6th round demise.

Well, it could happen if the game Mancunian gets lucky in knocking out with hell-fire bombs the GenSan Pacman.

“Mission Impossible” you Ricky lovers: Manny is guaranteeing his presence at the May 2,2009 slugfest—to quell any of Hatton’s onslaughts so as to beat him silly period.

Folks, this is a fistic opera Manny and Ricky are conjuring from your pet hub where brutal punching is the main entrée.

Any of the two licensed Filipino or English combatants need to win big in this potboiler for the glories (read that (ital) lotsa monies) ahead.

This early, an English boxing scribe is bragging what he calls Ricky’s all-out drive to rough up Manny with guiles from his dirty-tricks manual.

Interesting.

What’s more of a certainty, by our reckoning, are vicious toe-to-toe exchanges that will ratchet the action when the obliging warriors devour each other for 12 rounds or less at the MGM Grand Arena.

If Hatton gets lucky and upsets the favored Pacquiao—knighthood—to be administered by Queen Elizabeth.

Manny beats Ricky gets a congressional seat—replete with treasured kisses and then some from his own Queen Elizabeth.

Photo by Noel Rivera

At 34, two-time world champion Luisito Espinosa is lacing up the gloves again — after he does the laundry and takes care of the kids, that is

By Cicero A. Estrella, Chronicle Staff Writer

The door of the white minivan slid open and four pint-size pre-schoolers scattered onto the asphalt parking lot ahead of Luisito Espinosa.

Don’t get the wrong idea, though. Espinosa is not a soccer dad. The Pacifica resident is a boxer, and he and his management team were not driving their kids to practice, but toting them along so that Espinosa might squeeze in an early afternoon workout at a Daly City gym.

Such is life for Espinosa, a two-time world champion. There are are no more hangers-on, no fancy modes of transport, no big-money contracts. Heck, there is not even a baby-sitter, so his 2-year-old daughter, Janica, as well as the son and two nephews of his manager, occasionally accompanies Espinosa to the gym.

The nontraditional boxing entourage suits Espinosa. He has twice reached the summit of his sport, but life is fine the way it is now as he starts from scratch at the age of 34 to rebuild his name and reputation within the what- have-you-done-lately boxing community.

The source of inspiration for Espinosa’s comeback is family. Not only his immediate family, but also the extended members, his management team, with whom he was recently reunited.

Back in the fold as adviser is Hermie Rivera, the man who discovered Espinosa in the Philippines and served as his first manager. Noel Rivera, Hermie’s son, has taken over as manager.
Hermie Rivera first brought Espinosa to the United States from Manila in 1986. He became close friends with Rivera’s sons, Noel, Andy and J.J.

“I’m happy because of my team,” Espinosa said through a translator in his native language, Tagalog. “I don’t worry about the people around me. If there was one person I didn’t get along with with former management teams, I got lazy. But now we’re complete.”

Full story in San Francisco Chronicle