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Mayweather TKOs Hatton in 10
December 08, 2007

by Hal Clarke

The greatest pound-for-pound boxer in the world, Floyd Mayweather Jr., lived up to the hype with a tenth round TKO victory besting overahchiever Ricky Hatton in a 147 lb championship boxing match live at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "Someone's 'O' Must Go" and indeed it did as Floyd Mayweather broke down his smaller opponent over 10 rounds before two knockdowns and a referee/corner stoppage in the 10th quelled the game Hatton's attempt to foil the extremely talented Mayweather. With the loss Hatton falls to 43-1 and Mayweather remains unblemished at 39-0.

A rough fight from start to finish, Mayweather used elbows, clinches, and forearms to force the pursuing Hatton away while Ricky butted, punched low, and seized every headlock he could muster in an attempt to disadvantage his swift-footed foe. In the end, Mayweather was too clever, too fleet of foot, and too accurate with his punching for the juggernaut Hatton to repel. Peppering the constantly pursuing Hatton with jabs, lead rights, and eventually a plethora of unexpected combination counters, Mayweather seized his opportunities to make the first move and knocked Hatton senseless with a lead left hook on the charging Hatton early in the tenth. Rattled, Hatton got to his feet but was quickly picked apart by the always sensible Mayweather. Eating a half-dozen punches, Hatton again hit the mat for a second time midway through the 10th. The white towel from Hatton's corner followed and refereee Joe Cortez waved off the fight at 1:35 of the 10th round.

The fight marked the first loss for 140 lb wunderkind Ricky Hatton (who was fighting tonight for only the second time in his career at 147), and continues Mayweather's undefeated streak over numerous weight classes.

Referee Joe Cortez caused some controversy in the 6th when he penalized Hatton 1 pont for hitting behind the head. The infraction came as a result of Floyd getting caught in the ropes and Cortez overzealously looking for a reason to penalize Hatton. The call continued a set of strange circumstances which found Floyd instigating the majority of clinches over the usually clinch-happy Hatton. Undettered, Hatton wrestled with Mayweather on the inside with neither fighter emerging as the winner of that particular battle. In the end, however, Mayweather landed the cleaner, more effective punching through almost every round, as reflected in the judges scoring (88-82, 89-81, 89-81), and secured a huge momentum advantage winning the last three rounds clearly before his impressive stoppage.

For those not of geriatric age, the fight appeared much closer than the judge's scorecards assumed. Hatton, who was clearly overmatched throughought the night, fought gallantly earning numerous rounds on Undependent Media's card by virtue of his harder punching and ability to control the pace, tempo, and style of the fight. Hatton's ability to land the majority of the damaging punches in the extremely close rounds secured him a number of rounds on our cards even if the slightly biased ref and judges saw things otherwise.

From the reffing to the scoring to the two combatants waging toe-to-toe war, this was a tough bout from all points of view. For a fight most as well we at Undependent Media thought would result in a Mayweather late round KO, the match proved an extremely exciting bout even if it was a bit predictable in its conclusion. Hatton fought above and beyond his stature bringing his A-game and constant pressure to Pretty Boy Floyd who fought 95% on the back foot throughout the fight. The ever-cocky Mayweather was content to bide his time, pot shot at will, and eventually caught the overaggressive Hatton coming in with perfectly timed punches that eventually sealed the congenial Brits fate for all time. With unmatched patience and poise, Mayweather proved once again he is the best in the world.

Watching the bout live at The Spectator Pub in Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, WA was an amazing experience. Though the mostly pro-Hatton crowd was dissapointed with the final outcome, they were satiated by the fact the better man won. While witnessing a Ricky Hatton upset victory live before a raucous audience would have made the evening even more glorious than it already was, seeing Floyd pushed to the max was as much as we could have honestly asked for and more. Paying 55 bucks for a live pay-per-view is unquestionably a bunch of bullshit, but if ever a fight was worthy of living up to the hype, Mayeather/Hatton fits that bill.

Here is the official scoring at the time of stoppage:

88-82, 89-81, 89-81

My Scoring of the Fight Up To The Stoppage (which had the same total as HBO unofficial scorer Harold Lederman):

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Want to tell Hal Clarke he doesn't know anything about anything? Or maybe you agree. Email him at halclarke@undependentmedia.com

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