In a week which found Floyd Mayweather Jr a stranger and enemy in his own hometown, the only talking that really mattered came from his fists instead of his lips.
In the midst of a hostile UK crowd that quite possibly made this fight the loudest in history, Floyd Mayweather Jr. picked apart Ricky Hatton en route to an impressive 10th round TKO.
Hatton pressed the action early with the crowd clearly behind the Brit but he had a hard time finding any space to land a clean punch. As the two wrestled in between punches, the crowd urged Hatton on and Hatton obliged by relentlessly pressing forward – little did he know that his reckless aggression would lead to his demise.
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A point was taken away from Hatton in the 6th as he hit Mayweather behind the head (of which Hatton responded by turning his back on the champion and bending over). It became apparent that a Mayweather with distance held a significant advantage and showcased his superb boxing ability by picking off Hatton‘s charge with jabs and lead right hands. Hatton was rocked by another Mayweather onslaught in the 8th that found the challenger seeing stars. While Hatton survived the round, it wouldn’t be much longer before Mayweather would dispose of the people’s champion.
By round 10 it was apparent that Hatton was behind as he charged forward and made a valiant attempt at smothering Mayweather. He made a fatal mistake by lunging forward and eating a brilliantly placed left hook that found its place against Hatton‘s jaw. The challenger fell forward face first into the corner and looked to be completely out of it. Hatton rose but it was elementary after that as Mayweather went in for the kill. A couple more lefts followed by a right hand placed Hatton down again. Hatton‘s corner tossed in the towel and referee Joe Cortez called a halt for the fight.
Mayweather raced to the corner and rejoiced as a small celebration ensued. The UK fans were in shock as their champion had been knocked out for the first time in his career. The pain acclimated with a shot of Hatton‘s girlfriend in tears at ringside.
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“Mayweather is the best, you cannot argue with that,” Oscar De La Hoya announced during the post fight conference.
Sugar Shane Mosley agreed that Mayweather was the pound for pound king but issued an immediate challenge to Mayweather for his place upon the throne. Will Mayweather accept the challenge?
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“I’m not talking about fighting right now,”Mayweather said to media. “Right now I’m worried about spending the holiday with my family so I can see if I even want to come back to the sport of boxing”
“It’s been a long road what can I say? It’s truly been an amazing experience,”Mayweather said as he showered Hatton with acclaim for giving him a tough fight. “Ricky Hatton is one hell of a fighter. I take my hat off to him.”
“I was doing alright until I fucking slipped,”Hatton joked when he arrived to speak. “You only need one chance and he took it”
Questions were asked about dirty tactics from both fighter, Hatton responded by saying “I thought Floyd was using his forearms a bit but I would have done the same fucking thing…it wasn’t a tickling contest.”
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What about the Hatton fans that took over the MGM?
“I never seen support of a British fighter than what I got here,”Hatton said as names such as Lewis, Bruno, Hamed and others rolled off the tongue. “I’m getting a bit sick of that fucking song myself I think.”
The only person that may not be sick of the song surprisingly is Floyd Mayweather Jr. – who revised the song for the media.
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“There’s only one Mayweather,” he sang. “One Mayweather, he walks the walk, talks the talk, walking all the way to moneyland.”
