09.12.07 – By Phil Santos – Overhandright.com: Floyd Mayweather Jr. pulls out an impressive victory by outlasting and eventually stopping the previously undefeated Ricky Hatton. In what turned out to be a terrific fight with great exchanges and plenty of drama Floyd showed to be the more precise puncher and superior defender..
Ricky Hatton did well to take his share of rounds on my scorecard (a view not shared by the judges who had it 89-81, 89-81, 88-82) by mugging Mayweather against the ropes and making the fight a brawl. His early success began to fade by the 7th round or so as Mayweather started picking his shots and visibly stunning Hatton.
Mayweather clearly took control of the fights last few rounds but Hatton was still swinging for the fences. Floyd eluded much of what Hatton threw at him late in the fight (a great adjustment considering Hatton was hammering Floyd in the first couple of rounds) before finally unloading, what he later called a “check hook”, a left hook that sent Hatton crashing into the ring post face first before hitting the canvas. “The Hit Man” gamely rose to his feet and absorbed a flurry from Mayweather before referee Joe Cortez called the fight to a hault. Cortez Grabbed Mayweather and Hatton, still dazed, crashed to the canvas.
In earlier action Jeff Lacy Defeated Peter Manfredo by 10 Round Unanimous Decision with scores of 97-92, 96-93, and 95-92. A dull fight which featured one knockdown when Manfredo was caught off balance by a Lacy right hand. Jeff Lacy did just enough to win but appeared to be short of 100 percent healed from rotator cuff surgery.
Daniel Ponce De Leon defended his WBO Super Bantamweight title against Eduardo Escobedo by scoring a 12 Round Unanimous Decision. This fight looked to be entertaining coming in and turned out to be almost unwatchable. With Ponce De Leon swinging wildly and missing and Escobedo ducking doing his best to avoid exchanges it made for a lousy match up. Surprisingly Escobedo had some success wen he let his hands go but he failed to do so and gifted Ponce De Leon with an easy decision win by being out hustled. The Judges scored the fight 118-110, 117-111, and 115-113.