LAS VEGAS – They chanted, “There’s Only One Ricky Hatton.” But the problem for Hatton and all his United Kingdom fans is, there’s nobody like Floyd Mayweather Jr.
In his finest performance, Mayweather last night dominated Hatton for most of nine rounds before stopping the Englishman in the 10th with a powerful left hook that floored Hatton for the first time in the fight and only the second time in his career. He followed that with a beautiful three-punch combination that ended the fight.
Hatton, who lost for the first time in 44 fights, tried to turn the WBC welterweight title bout at a sold out MGM Grand Garden Arena into a brawl.
The fighters were warned repeatedly for roughhouse tactics, and Hatton was deducted a point in the sixth for hitting Mayweather behind the head as the champion was pushed into the ropes.
But Mayweather, who recorded his 25th knockout, dominated the fight, using his defensive skills to neutralize Hatton’s aggression, while using his hand speed to score points by landing lead rights and quick combinations.
It ended suddenly in the 10th round as Mayweather landed a hard left hook to the chin as Hatton was moving in. Hatton, who had been down only once previously in his career, fell into the ring post and rolled on his back.
He got up in time to beat the count, but Mayweather pounced and landed a right-left-right combination that had the challenger slumping to canvas.
At the same instant, referee Joe Cortez was ending the fight, Hatton’s corner was throwing in the towel.
Mayweather was ahead 89-81 on two scorecards and 88-82 on the other when the fight was stopped at 1:35 of the 10th. The Post had Mayweather ahead 89-81.
“I took my time,” Mayweather said. “I fought on the inside and the outside. A true champion can adapt to anything. I already knew coming in he was going to try to rough me up. He was definitely the toughest competitor I’ve ever faced. I threw a lot of body shots and he kept coming. I can see why they call him the Hitman.”
Mayweather said the left hook that dropped Hatton was an old-school punch.
“I threw the check hook,” he said. “I learned that in northern Michigan in the amateurs, and he walked right into it and never saw it coming. He walked right into the shot.”
The UK crowd booed during the singing of the American national anthem, and when Mayweather entered the ring to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.” But from the start it was clear Mayweather was beating Hatton at his own game, fighting inside.
“He’s better inside than I thought with all the elbows, shoulders and forearms he used,” said Hatton, who suffered a cut in the third round.
“I felt all right until he got me with the cut. I thought I was doing well in the fight until then. I didn’t quite stick to the game plan. He’s not the biggest welterweight I’ve fought, but he was strong. He was a lot more clever than I expected.”
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On the under card, Jeff Lacy, fighting for the first time in a year, earned a unanimous decision over Peter Manfredo Jr. from The Contender.
A former IBF super middleweight champ, Lacy (23-1, 17 KOs) underwent shoulder surgery after earning a victory in December 2006.
This was only his second fight since losing to Joe Calzaghe in March 2006. Manfredo (28-5, 13) was knocked down by an overhand right in the fourth round.
Daniel Ponce De Leon (34-1, 30 KOs) of Mexico retained his WBO junior featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Eduardo Escobedo of Mexico (20-3, 14 KOs); and Edner Cherry (23-5-2, 11 KOs) of the Bahamas knocked out Wes Ferguson (17-3-1, 5 KOs) of Flint, Michigan, in the sixth round of a lightweight bout.