With his Manchester, UK house band relentlessly declaring, "there's only one Ricky Hatton", Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton returned to America and clubbed Brooklyn's "Magic Man," Paulie Malignaggi into submission. Though the submission came via the hand of Paulie's trainer, Buddy McGirt, rather than Paulie, himself, from Round 2 on there seemed little Paulie could do to alter the inevitable: a Hatton victory. And indeed, at 30 seconds into Round 11, the towel was thrown and Hatton hoisted onto the shoulders of his cornermen.

It wasn't that Hatton won and Malignaggi lost that was surprising (Hatton was a 2 to 1 favorite going into the fight), it was that Paulie threw practically nothing other than left jabs the entire fight. With a history of hand problems casting a large shadow as soon as his one-armed fighting began (which was essentially from the opening bell), the enthusiasm that Malignaggi initially brought to the fight quickly dissipated. With a rough Hatton hook nearly leveling Malignaggi in the 2nd and nothing other than a jab and a plethora of holding on Malignaggi's part in response, from that round to the eventual stoppage all seemed lost but the crying (which Malignaggi actually did post-fight). It was a dissapointing turn of events for a bout that on paper had all the makings of an entertaining and competitive affair.

For his part Hatton looked good. He appeared more patient than in the past, lunging less, holding less, and maintaining a suitable pace throughout. Where he looked vulnerable, however, was his defence.

With Paulie throwing nothing but jabs, Hatton had but one punch to avoid and he couldn't even manage that. When Paulie threw those sparse right hands they made clean contact and even stunned Hatton once in the 8th round. It's not that Paulie had any chance of knocking Hatton out, but it is important to note that Hatton's recent tendency to furiously eat his opponent's punches has not subsided, even under new trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr.

As I mentioned in my preview of the bout, I believe Hatton has seen better days. In his last bout against decent but hardly outstanding Juan Lazcano, The Hitman was nearly knocked out late after winning virtually every round. Against Paulie, who fought with only a jab, he likewise ate a lot of punches. Those facts do not bode welI for Hatton if he finds himself in the ring with a top 140 pound puncher with any sort of power. Lucky for him, however there isn't much power currently at 140, Ricardo Torres the only exception. But with Torres busy with other business (a rematch with Kendall Holt), that match up seems unlikely.

That being the case, it seems Hatton may move on to one more big money bout against the much smaller Manny Pacquio or the opportunistic and much larger Oscar De La Hoya. Either, I suspect will knock him out.

No matter what the future holds, a tip of the cap to Ricky Hatton. He is a delightful chap with a great sense of humour (he wore a fat suit into the ring!) who has proven himself a terrific 140 pound fighter. Indeed, the best 140 pounder on the planet. He may not always look great but he gets the job done. And as the song goes, "there's only one Ricky Hatton!"

Hatton moves to 45-1 (32 KO)

Malignaggi falls to 25-2 (5 KO)

My Scoring of the Fight up to the Stoppage:

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total
Malignaggi	10	9	9	9	9	10	9	9	9	9	TKO'd	92
Hatton	9	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	10		98

Quote of the night by Harold Lederman:

"That's not the same Paulie Malignaggi in the ring tonight." - Referring to Malignaggi's offensively devoid performance.