Widely considered as the underdog in the “Battle of East and West” on May 2 (May 3 in Manila), British boxer Ricky Hatton stands firm on his pronouncement that he can defeat the world’s pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.

“I would expect Manny to be the favourite but I'm surprised his trainer Freddie Roach thinks I will get knocked out in three rounds. I've read some of the stuff and it's like, it's not me Manny should be fighting but Godzilla,” Hatton told Jamie Jackson of The Observer.

“Suddenly, he's turned into some power merchant who will knock me out in three rounds after beating De La Hoya. But I've beaten bigger guys than Manny has. I'm not discarding what Manny has but forgive me if I don't share others' enthusiasm,” said Hatton.

The IBO light-welterweight titlist also said: “I will be the biggest and strongest guy he has faced and with how I'm boxing more sensibly now, I really think it's going to be enough.”

“I don't think he's fought an idiot like me before who is 100 miles per hour, strong, fast and a real handful,” the pride of Manchester added.

With his confidence in his ability to beat Pacquiao in Las Vegas, Hatton is egging on bettors to put their money on him.

“Re-mortgage the house and empty the bank and put it all on me,” declared Hatton, as stated in Jackson’s article posted on Guardian.co.uk.

“I'm not getting ahead of myself. It's just the build of my opponent,” he explained as Manny is one inch shorter than him.

Ricky also said that he really feels confident. “That's what I'm going on. Every day of the week I can beat this guy.”

Hatton continued to talk about his self-belief. “I'm so, so confident it's unreal.” 

“People are getting carried away with Pacquiao's speed, but don't forget I'm a bit of a whippet myself. It has all gone really smoothly for this fight and this is the sharpest I've been,” he added, as stated in the online article of The Guardian.

Hatton also mentioned his thoughts on the possibility of being named the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter after the May 2 bout.

“It would be great to say Britain has the No. 1 in world boxing. Winning the world title was my goal as a kid, but being the pound-for-pound champion would be the ultimate,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hatton said that he wants to fight Juan Manuel Marquez or set a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. if he beats Pacquiao.

He also turned down Amir Khan’s challenge to have a shot at Hatton’s world title.

“I'm fighting some of the best fighters in the world and no disrespect to Amir but he's not on my agenda right now,” he said. Khan is best known for defeating a bloodied Marco Antonio Barrera in March 2009.