PREFIGHT
The British fans are singly loudly in anticipation for the main event. Sir Tom Jones is on hand to sing God Save The Queen. Tyrese Gibson is on hand to sing The National Anthem...some boos can be heard from the crowd. Celebrites in attendance...Jude Law, Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Mark Cuban, Tiger Woods, Wayne Newton, Will Ferrell, Mario Lopez, Karina Smirnov, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, David Beckham, Jeremy Piven, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Gwen Stefani. And it starts...the sounds of Blue Moon can be heard and the British fans begin to sing along. The place erupts as Hatton makes his way to the ring. He looks confident. He turns to the crowd and they roar with excitement. Mayweather comes out next to the sounds of Bruce Springstein's Born In The USA. Cuban, Newton and Castronoves carry his belts to the ring behind him. He looks focused. Buffer makes the announcement, "SOMEBODY'S 0 HAS GOT TO GO...LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
ROUND 1
Hatton backs Mayweather up quickly. Mayweather fires the jab and backs up to the ropes. Hatton digs to the body. Quick left hook from Mayweather smacks Hatton in the face. Hatton holds on. Mayweather lands a jab to the body. Two quick jabs land for Mayweather. Hatton follows Mayweather around. Short left hook lands for Mayweaher. Straight right hand lands for Mayweather. Hatton lands a right to the body and the crowd explodes. Left hook lands for Mayweather and he loses his balance when Hatton land a left. Jab lands for Mayweather. Hatton trying to cut off the ring. Straight right lands for Mayweather and they wrestle on the inside. They trade on the inside. Hatton digs a left to the body. Straight right lands for Mayweather. Another straight right lands for Mayweather to end the round. Round to Mayweather.
Mayweather 10 Hatton 9
ROUND 2
Quick left hand from Hatton to start the round. Straight right lands for Mayweather. Big left hand lands for Hatton and Mayweather holds on. Straight right lands for Mayweather. Hatton digs to the body. The ref calls time to warn both men of the roughhousing. Mayweather on the retreat and lands a straight right. BIG right hand from Mayweather snaps the head of Hatton and then he holds on. Hatton lands a left. Mayweather lands a left hook. Straight right lands for Mayweather. Hatton lands a left hook. Hatton lands a jab. Hatton digs a right to the body. Cortez warns both men again about dirty fighting. Hatton lands a left hook. They trade lefts. They trade lefts again. Hatton digs to the body. Round to Mayweather.
Mayweather 20 Hatton 18
ROUND 3
Mayweather circles away. Hatton presses forward. Hatton lands a left hook. Now Mayweather lands a left hook. Mayweather sneaks in a right hand on the break. Cortez is all over both men for holding. Hatton digs to the body. Mayweather lands a 1-2 upstairs. Hatton lands a left. Mayweather backs away and lands a left hook. Mayweather works Hatton on the inside. Hatton gives Mayweather a forearm along the ropes. They trade along the ropes. Cortez continues to break them immediately. Hatton lands a left, but Mayweather lands a bigger right hand. Another BIG right hand from Mayweather lands and Hatton is cut. They clinch and trade on the inside. Mayweather lands some nice uppercuts. Round to Mayweather.
Mayweather 30 Hatton 27
ROUND 4
Mayweather continues to back away. Hatton jumps in and lands a left. Mayweather lands two nice left hooks. Hatton lands a left. They trade on the inside. Uppercut lands for Mayweather. Hatton lands a 1-2 and backs Myaweather up. Mayweather works the body. Big right hand lands for Hatton. Stiff jab from Mayweather snaps the head back of Hatton. Hard upercut lands for Mayweather. Another left hand from Mayweather snaps the head back of Haton. WOOOOOOO....HUGE Mayweather pullback right hand lands. Hatton digs to the body. Nice four-punch combo lands for Mayweather. 1-2 lands for Mayweather. Hatton breaking down a bit. Round to Mayweather.
Mayweather 40 Hatton 36
ROUND 5
Mayweather retreats and Hatton rushes in and digs to the body. Mayweather shoulder rollin' now and Hatton landing to his back. Right hand over the top lands for Hatton. Both men dig to the body. Mayweather allowing Hatton to back him to the ropes. Hatton working, but landing mainly to the arms and back of Mayweather. He's winning the round so far though, but at what price as Mayweather is landing some accurate punches on the inside while Hatton is working hard to land punches to the arms and back. Hatton lands an uppercut. Jab lands for Mayweather. Right hand lands for Mayweather. Both men trade to the body. Hatton digs a right to the body along the ropes. Mayweather lands an elbow to end the round and the crowd boos. Round to Hatton.
Mayweather 49 Hatton 46
ROUND 6
Mayweather retreats and circles away. Hatton presses forward and digs to the body. Mayweather lands a jab to the body. Straight right lands for Mayweather. Left hook and an elbow lands for Mayweather, but he eats a BIG right hook from Hatton. They wrestle and Hatton hits Mayweather on the back of the head. Cortez takes a point. Hatton mocks Mayweather to say that he turned his back. It's getting rough and dirty in there now. Both men throwing elbows and shoulders. Nice left hook lands for Mayweather. Another left hook lands for Mayweather. Hatton digs another right to the back of Mayweather's head. They wrestle some more. Hatton lands a right of his own. Now Mayweather fighting dirty landing lefts and rights to the back of Hatton's head. Ugly, ugly round. Round to Hatton, but he lost a point for the foul.
Mayweather 58 Hatton 55
ROUND 7
Both men trade on the inside and more roughhousing. Mayweather throws a short uppercut that's partially blocked. They clinch and trade on the inside again. Hatton works the body. Mayweather lands a right to the body and a right upstairs. Hatton lands a right. Both men leaning on each other. Left hook and a right hand lands for Mayewather. HARD right to the body lands for Mayweather. Hatton tries to push him back. Short right on the inside lands for Mayweather. Quick left hook and a right hand lands for Mayweather. Mayweather smiles. A lot of wrestling in that round with Hatton throwing more punches and Mayweather landing more accurately. Round to Mayweather.
Mayweather 68 Hatton 64
ROUND 8
Mayweather starting to break Hatton down now with a lot of punches. Uppercut, left hook, right hook. Hatton eating a lot of punches. WOOOOOOOO...HUGE right hand lands for Mayweather that rocks Hatton. Hatton looks a little shaky. Mayweather backs up to the ropes. Hatton presses forward and lands a right. Hatton lands another right. Mayweather lands a right now. They trade to the body. BIG counter left hook lands for Mayweather. WOOOOOO....HUGE right hand lands for Mayweather and Hatton is hurt. Mayweather landing a lot. Right hand, left hand. Hatton sneaks in a right and Mayeather lands another right. Hatton fires back. They clinch. End of round. BIG round for Mayweather.
Mayweather 78 Hatton 73
ROUND 9
Mayweather circles away. Hatton chases him down. Quick jab from Mayweather snaps the head of Hatton. They clinch. Mayweather works the body. Hatton lands a left hook. Jab lands for Mayweather. Hatton eats it and presses forward. Another jab lands for Mayweather. Another jab...and another. They clinch and Mayweather talks to someone in the crowd. Hatton mises with a right and pays for it with a right from Mayweather. Another STIFF jab from Mayweather snaps the head back of Hatton. Jab and two rights to the body land for Mayewather. Hatton looks tired. Jab, jab and a hold from Mayweather. Two straight right hands in a row land for Mayweeather and he grins to the crowd. Round to Mayweather.
Mayweather 88 Hatton 82
ROUND 10
Again, Mayweather retreats to the ropes, Hatton rushes in and they clinch. Mayweather lands a left hook and retreats. Hatton lands an uppercut. Mayweather lands a jab to the body. They trade on the inside. Mayweather backs up to the corner. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....HUGE counter left hook from Mayweather FLOORS Hatton. Hatton bounced off corner and hit the canvas. He takes the count, but he looks done. WOW. Hatton holding on to survive. WOOOOO...another left hook from Mayweather and a right hand...a delayed reaction and Hatton is down again. That's it. The corner throws in the towel but it was already too late as the ref didn't bother to count.
Mayweather TKO10
The winner by way of knockout at 1:35 of round 10...AND STILL WBC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD....FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR.
COMPUBOX
Mayweather total punches: 129/329
Hatton total punches: 63/372
Mayweather jabs: 29/72
Hatton jabs: 11/63
Mayweather power punches: 100/257
Hatton power punches: 52/309
POSTFIGHT
Mayweather says he loves all the fans that came over from the UK and in America. "I just took my time, I fought on the inside and I fought on the outside...a true champion can adapt to anything," states Mayweather regarding his performance. "Ricky Hatton is one tough fighter. He's still a champion in my eyes," he continued. Mayweather says Ricky Hatton is one of the toughest competitors he's ever faced. "I see why they call him the Hitman". Mayweather says he caught him with a check hook. He says that he's not trying to call out anyone...that now it's time for him to become a promoter. "I won't let the sport of boxing retire me...I'll retire from the sport." The fans in attendance are still cheering loudly for Hatton. "What a fluke that was," Hatton starts out and the crowd laughs. "He's very good at making you miss," Hatton admits. "I felt the difference," he continued referring to fighting at welterweight. "I don't think he's the hardest puncher I ever fought, but he's very accurate and he got me...Ricky Hatton's not finished...sorry everybody...thank you," Hatton closed. Official judges scorecards at the time of the stoppage...
Burt Clements: 89-81
Dave Moretti: 89-81
Paul Smith: 88-82
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