Pretty Boy KO'd The Hitman in the 10th

by E-ROC

Ricky Hatton was pressuring Floyd Mayweather throughout the fight. It look as though Mayweather underestimated Hatton's hand and foot speed in the earlier rounds. Hatton was bullying Mayweather in those earlier rounds. He wasn't landing the cleaner punches. Most of Hatton's punches were hitting Mayweather on the arms and shoulders. Mayweather was still landing his lead right hand. He was doing his usual pop-shotting, but Hatton continued to put on the pressure.

In the 6th round, the two fighters got tangled up on the ropes. Both fighters holding each other while punching. Mayweather inexplicably turned his back away from Hatton. Mayweather's upper torso was in between the ropes and outside the ring. Hatton threw a punch to the body and tried to hit Floyd in the back of the head, but the punch hit the top rope. Meanwhile, the referee Joe Cortez was trying to stop the action. The punches didn't have any force behind them, but Cortez thought it was enough to deduct a point. The referee has been warning the fighters throughout the fight about the excessive holding and hitting in the back of the head. When the referee brought the two fighters back to the middle of the ring, Ricky Hatton turned his back to Mayweather before they started boxing again.

That incident got under the skin of Floyd as he began to let his hands go. Landing and snapping back the head of Hatton more frequently. Even though Floyd was landing more, Hatton was still moving forward and pressuring. In the 10th, Floyd's onslaught continued. Hatton tried to come in on Floyd and met a counter left hook. The Hitman went down in a heap, but beat the count. With his opponent on shaky legs, Mayweather went in for the knockout and got it on a barrage of accurate punches. The referee stopped the fight.

Ricky Hatton brought out the best of Floyd Mayweather that fans haven't seen in a while. Floyd had a 39% connect percentage, while Hatton had 16%. In the interview with Larry Merchant, Floyd said he's taking a break from boxing. That break being a year or two. Nothing is set in stone. Floyd Mayweather vs Miguel Cotto seems inevitable. Only time will tell if this matchup ever happens.