Mayweather Hammers The Hitman

By Nat Gottlieb - Courtesy of HBO.com

This bout was a big event long before they rang the first-round bell Saturday night. It was a match-up loaded with story lines, subplots, trash-talking and a remarkable contrast of personalities even wider than the ocean that separated the two.

But in the end, it would not be press conferences, pre-fight videos or expert analysis that revealed the truth. When the leather finally started flying and bodies collided in a dance of violent motion, history would record that on Dec. 8, 2007, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was still the greatest fighter on the planet.

FIGHTERS	Floyd Mayweather	Ricky Hatton
TOTAL PUNCHES
Thrown	329	372
Connected	129	63
%	39%	17%
JABS
Thrown	72	63
Connected	29	11
%	40%	17%
POWER PUNCHES
Thrown	257	309
Connected	100	52
%	39%	17%

The triumph was a tremendous addition to Mayweather's already huge arsenal of bragging talking points. Despite his career-long string of dominating performances and his aura of invincibility, the one persistent knock on Mayweather was that he was vulnerable to a skilled pressure fighter.

Ricky Hatton is as skilled of a pressure fighter you will find in the game and while he succeeded in taking the fight to Mayweather, the champion demonstrated once again that if there is a formula to beat him, nobody has discovered it yet.

Hatton did everything he said he would in the early going, pressuring Mayweather constantly, forcing him to fight in a phone booth. Although Hatton was known as a hit and hold artist, it was Mayweather in the early going who would throw a right lead, land and then hold. Mayweather looked uncomfortable fighting an inside fight.

But Mayweather, despite the pressure, kept landing with precision punches and building up points, and by the seventh round the pound-for-pound champion began to take control of the fight as Hatton slowed down.

Beginning in the 8th round, Mayweather stopped throwing single shots and began landing combos which stung Hatton. Hatton's pressure tactics began to wilt in the 9th round and Mayweather came out of his defensive shell and took advantage with more combos in the center of the ring, which is where Pretty Boy is at his best.

The 10th round was the beginning of the end for Hatton. With just under two minutes gone in the round, Mayweather rocked Hatton with a left hook and knocked the challenger down. Hatton got up, but Mayweather was all over him. Mayweather connected with another left hook, then a straight right and another left hook that staggered Hatton.

Before Hatton could fall, referee Joe Cortez stepped in and stopped the fight with 1:35 to go in the round. At the time of the stoppage, Mayweather was comfortably ahead on the scorecards, 89-81 twice, and 88-82, although it seemed like a much closer fight.

"Ricky was one of the toughest fighters I have ever faced, and he is still a champion in my eyes," said an unusually gracious Mayweather (39-0) to HBO commentator Larry Merchant. "I hit him with some big body shots early but he kept coming, and that's why they call him the Hitman. He's one helluva fighter. I just came out and did my job.

"I showed that I can still punch with power. The last few fights, I gave the fans dull fights and I wanted to give them more."

Mayweather hinted strongly to Merchant that this would be his last fight, although he said he would retire after he beat Oscar De La Hoya in May and came back.

"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 and Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions (his company) can be the future of boxing."

When asked about the prospect of fighting unbeaten Miguel Cotto, Mayweather praised Cotto and fellow welterweight Shane Mosley as "great champions," but gave no indication they were in his future.

Hatton, meanwhile, suffered his first lost in 44 fights, but indicated his spirit was not defeated. "He knocked me down, but Ricky Hatton is up," the Brit said as his fans in the sellout crowd at the MGM Grand cheered.

Although he lost, Hatton is still in line for the ultimate lottery prize, a ticket to ride with De La Hoya. De La Hoya hinted strongly before the fight that even if Hatton lost, he would still want to fight him. The reason? De La Hoya said recently the one thing he has missed out on in his career is being in the kind of brawl that makes for Fight of the Year.

The pure aggression and pressure that the valiant Hatton demonstrated last night would be tailor-made to give Oscar the chance to go out in September, when he is likely to retire, with a farewell battle for the ages. De La Hoya has said he would like to go to England for the fight, and hold it in Manchester's Wembley Stadium before 80,000 plus fans. A Fight of the Year and a shot at the all-time attendance record make for a tremendous lure for Oscar.

Certainly Hatton lost no luster on his star Saturday night. Everybody loses to Floyd. If Oscar decides not to fight Hatton, Cotto, who is only an inch taller than Hatton and fought for most of his career as a junior welterweight, would make a tremendous fight for the Brit, who has said 2008 will probably be his last year in boxing.

In the week leading up to the fight, Bernard Hopkins spelled out what he thought would separate winner from loser Saturday night.

"The biggest factor in who wins and who loses is who will be able to suck it up and forget about the belts and the zeros in your loss column. Who will cross that line and knock on the door of greatness?

Floyd Mayweather Jr. answered the call. He is still the King of Boxing.