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Floyd Mayweather jnr remained unbeaten and retained his claim to being the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world by stopping Ricky Hatton in the 10th round of a welterweight brawl yesterday.
Hatton would not let Mayweather move but it did not matter as the American used precision punches to wear down the challenger for his World Boxing Council crown.
Hatton kept trying to get inside and score points but Mayweather had an answer for everything he did.
The end came after Mayweather landed a crushing left hook that dropped Hatton on his back in Mayweather's corner.
Hatton got up at the count of eight but Mayweather immediately got him on the ropes and landed another flurry of punches to the head.
Hatton went down almost on a delayed reaction, while at the same time referee Joe Cortez moved in to stop the fight and Hatton's corner threw in the towel 1m 35s into the round.
It was the first loss for Hatton, a brawler from Manchester, England, who did his best to do what no other fighter had ever done and break down Mayweather's defences.
It was clear from the early rounds, though, that Hatton would have trouble doing that.
Mayweather was able to pile up points and seemed to be cruising for an easy decision win when he shot out the left hook that was the beginning of the end for Hatton.
"I knew it was going to be tough," Mayweather said. "That's why I didn't do anything halfway."
Mayweather (39-0) was ahead 89-81 on two ringside scorecards and 88-82 when he scored the thundering punches that both stopped Hatton and answered critics who said he was a boring fighter who fought defensively and rarely took any chances when it counted.
It was Mayweather's home town but Hatton's crowd at the MGM Grand hotel arena.
A brass band played in the upper deck, among thousands of British fans who packed the arena and needed little urging to stand up with beers in hand to sing "There's only one Ricky Hatton" to the tune of "Winter Wonderland".
- AP
