Billed as the fight of the year, Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions presented a fight card that drew over 15,000 boxing fans, many of them from the U.K., to the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip. This was the fight everyone was looking forward to seeing.

Brad Pitt, Will Ferrell, Tiger Woods, Denzel Washington and Gwen Stefani, were among the celebrities who attended the WBC Welterweight Championship fight on Saturday, Dec. 8.

It certainly was a great setting with Tom Jones performing the anthem of England and Tyrese singing the American National Anthem.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. proved he not only could take powerful shots from Ricky Hatton, but he also proved he could deliver power shots to Hatton’s body and serve up counterpunches. Mayweather (40-0-0-26) delivered a left hook, catching Hatton (43-1-0-31) on the right chin as he was delivering a left punch to Mayweather. That left hook sent Hatton to the mat, giving Mayweather a TKO at 1:35 of the 10th round.

The great warrior in Hatton is what gave him the strength to get up, to go for it again, but his corner threw in the towel.

“I took my time,” Mayweather said. “I fought inside and out. A true champion can adapt to anything.”

All three judges’ scorecards had Mayweather ahead, with two scoring 89-81 and one with 88-82.

This was, perhaps, Mayweather’s toughest fight. He had to deal with Hatton as the aggressor from the beginning of round one until he was knocked out. It was the street fighter in Hatton versus the counterpuncher in Mayweather.

Hatton started out strong, winning the first three rounds. Mayweather cut Hatton’s eye in the third round. Hatton couldn’t match the speed and combinations of Mayweather. However, Hatton scored much better when the two were tied up.

In the sixth round, Hatton forced the fight and hit Mayweather in the back of the head, pushing him through the ropes, which cost him a point from referee Joe Cortez. From that point on, Mayweather excelled, where in the eighth round he landed 32 punches to Hatton’s eight.

When Hatton kept forcing the fight, getting careless and leaving his defenses open, it allowed Mayweather to take advantage with his left hook, ending Hatton’s — and the huge U.K. support contingency’s — dream for a victory. Hatton hails from Manchester, Lancashire, U.K.

As in every Mayweather fight, he was a clever fighter. He proved that point with his boxing skills, dominating Hatton, 29, with speed, counterpunching and power shots.

“Ricky Hatton is one tough fighter; one of the toughest fighters I ever fought,” said Mayweather.

After the press conference, Mayweather, 30, said boxing didn’t retire him, he retired from boxing. He says that Golden Boy and his promotions company are the future of boxing.

Mayweather now resides in Las Vegas after relocating from Grand Rapids, Mich.
 

Photos by Maryann Owen