11.12.07 – By Vanessa McConnell: Ricky Hatton (44-1) took a $7.2 million whipping Saturday night in Las Vegas when Floyd “Pretty Boy” Mayweather Jr. (81-0) out-smarted him in a 12 round bout that only lasted 10. Mayweather may be fighting out of Vegas and have the entire city under his charm, but the scene inside the arena Saturday night was like being in a soccer stadium in Amsterdam. Hatton brought the band and half the country with him..
It was almost like America vs Europe. Floyd floored in to “Born in the USA” and backed up every word he said leading up to the fight. When Hatton crushed Castillo with a knee buckling side punch and he came into the arena wearing a sombrero, as to mock Floyd for his wearing the same outfit at the fight with De La Hoya on Cinco de Mayo. After the fight, Hatton talked about taking his lucky charm to Floyd, but America brought it home Saturday night.
No one could have been more proud of Mayweather that night, than Floyd Mayweather Sr. himself. Saturday night was a clear example of everything he learned from his father. “Floyd played Ricky like a fiddle, that’s some Mohammed Ali shit, the rope a dope style,” said former boxer and sparring partner Christopher Kollmer after the fight. Mayweather obviously studied Hatton well.
He didn’t wear himself out in the beginning of the fight. Hatton clowned around and landed some tough blows while Mayweather was on the ropes. But when the bell rang in the 7th round Mayweather had enough when he nearly fell out of the ring and Hatton punched him in the back of the head going down. There was an ill silence in the arena for second, we all had flash backs of the Zab Judah match when the ring was bum rushed and all hell broke loose.
The referee put the fire out before the crowd got over excited as they all stood on their feet the entire fight. Mayweather took Hatton to the mat for the next two rounds. At 1:48 into the eigth round, Mayweather nearly put Hatton to sleep and landed a crucial blow at 0:38 of the round and from that point on it was a wrap for Hatton.
The ninth round was even more pounding. Hatton went back to pushing Mayweather on the ropes but Mayweather seem to keep coming out stronger. A few minutes into the tenth round, Mayweather unleashed his flurry on Hatton and knocked him down. He worked him down till the ref eventually stopping the fight with over a minute left. It seemed like a really close fight but Mayweather was even winning on the scorecards.
“I’ve done what I have to do in boxing,” Mayweather said. “I have nothing else to prove to the world. I can retire from boxing.” He mentioned Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions being the future of boxing, proving that boxing is not dying but coming back stronger. Only Mayweather knows if he will ever fight again. He has the life every athlete works for, a chance to retire young and rich.
Only Mayweather knows if he’ll ever fight again, but fans have made it clear that he would be taking a great and exciting fighter out of the game. We have seen the best and want to see more so naturally we would love to see more of the boy wonder, Floyd Mayweather Jr. If he steps back in the ring, there’s talk of him going up against undefeated Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley is still waiting in the wing for his shot.
The after party at Jet Nightclub inside the Mirage was the topping on the cake. George Maloof and Kid Rock took over the VIP area leading the way for Mayweather and his crew to come in and shut it down. Staks kept the mob off Mayweather’s back as he came over to party with Maloof and Kid Rock. As Mayweather, left the building the party kept on swinging. It was on to the next after party inside the Mandalay Bay.