hatton knockout

Pretty Boy" Mayweather TKOs "Hitman" Hatton in 10
Las Vegas, NV (Sports Network) - "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather stopped Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton with a technical knockout at 1:35 of the 10th round to retain his WBC welterweight title on Saturday night.

Hatton (43-1) was coming in for left hook, and Mayweather tagged him with a left hook of his own to the left cheek, sending the Brit staggering into the ring post and onto the mat.

Only a few seconds later Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) landed another tough left hook to Hatton's head, and "The Hitman" was down for the count.

Mayweather, 30, reiterated after the fight that he is winding his career down, and doesn't plan on taking on any challengers in the near future. This would be the second time that the champ has indicated a desire to stop fighting, as he announced his retirement after defeating Oscar De La Hoya in May.

That retirement didn't last too long, though.

Things were lining up for Hatton to score the upset early, as the Brit, sporting blue and silver trunks, landed a good left hook early in the first round that had Mayweather off balance for a step. The champ regained his balance, though, and came back, tagging Hatton with a strong right hook late in the second round.

Hatton bulled Mayweather against the ropes in the fourth round, landing a few tough body shots. "Pretty Boy" found a way to push back to the center of the ring, though, and punished Hatton late in the round.

In sixth round Hatton had a point deducted for hitting Mayweather on the back of the head. Hatton, protesting that Mayweather turned his back, turned his back to Mayweather after the referee started the fight back up.

Mayweather clutched and grabbed through much of the early rounds, but came on strong in the eighth round, momentarily stopping Hatton with a right hook to the face. "Pretty Boy" got his opponent in corner in the last 30 seconds of the round, landing a series of hooks to Hatton's face and body, and appeared to take control from there.

The official scorecards revealed after the fight that, at the time of the knockout, the fight was scored heavily in Mayweather's favor - 89-81, 89-81, and 88-82.

At a combined 81-0, this was the biggest matchup of two undefeated welterweights since Oscar De La Hoya took on Felix Trinidad in 1999.

Mayweather was fighting in his adopted home of Las Vegas, but it was Hatton that was the crowd favorite. Thousands of British fans of "The Hitman" made the journey to Vegas to cheer on Hatton, as has become a tradition in all of his fights.

Mayweather's last fight was his highly publicized, and slightly controversial, 12-round unanimous decision over De La Hoya on May 5 that ran his record to 38-0, with 24 knockouts.

Hatton was coming off a fourth-round knockout of Jose Luis Castillo on June 23, a dominating performance that gave him 31 career knockouts in 43 wins.

In the undercard, Daniel Ponce de Leon won a unanimous 12-round decision over Eduardo Escobedo for the WBO Jr. featherweight belt
LAS VEGAS -- After a year off because of a severe left shoulder injury, former super middleweight titlist Jeff Lacy is back in the ring. And winning.

Lacy pounded out a unanimous decision against Peter Manfredo in a grueling fight in the 10-round co-feature on the Floyd Mayweather-Ricky Hatton undercard Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Lacy, who signed with Golden Boy Promotions in October, looked as though he might end matters in the fourth round when he caught Manfredo with a looping right hand that knocked the first-season "Contender" star to the canvas. Manfredo got up quickly and Lacy pounced, but Manfredo did a good job of evading another big punch and made it out of the round.

Lacy and Manfredo, who both lost title fights to world champion Joe Calzaghe, battled on even terms through most of the fight. Lacy landed some good uppercuts, and Manfredo (28-5, 13 KOs) swelled Lacy's eyes and cut him on the right eye in the ninth round.

In the end, the judges all had it for Lacy -- 97-92, 96-93 and 95-94. ESPN.com also had it for Lacy, 96-93.

Lacy (23-1, 17 KOs) was fighting for the first time since Dec. 2, 2006, when he tore a tendon in his left shoulder 97 percent away from the bone as well as tearing his rotator cuff in the second round of a 10-round majority decision win against Vitaly Tsypko. It was a severe injury that required surgery and six months of rehabilitation.

Manfredo, 27, also was coming off surgery, an August procedure to clean up bone chips and bone spurs in his left elbow.

Lacy's next fight could come in April at light heavyweight against former champion Antonio Tarver. The fight would take place in Tampa, Fla., where Tarver is from. Lacy, 30, is from nearby St. Petersburg.

Ponce De Leon retains title


Daniel Ponce De Leon, one of boxing's biggest knockout artists, was forced to go the distance by Mexican countryman Eduardo Escobedo but won a unanimous decision to retain his junior featherweight title.

All three judges had it for Ponce De Leon, 118-110, 117-111 and 115-113. ESPN.com also had it for Ponce De Leon, 116-112.

Ponce De Leon (34-1, 30 KOs) looked as if he might get another highlight reel knockout because he did what he usually does. He stalked Escobedo (20-3, 14 KOs), relentlessly throwing punches. Escobedo had little answer other than to back up and try to get away.

Escobedo finally found some offense in the sixth round, landing a number of quality right hands, but Ponce De Leon shook them off and continued his attack.

As the fight went on, Escobedo began to land cleaner punches, but never enough to really hurt Ponce De Leon.

"He was more difficult than I expected," said Ponce De Leon, a southpaw making his sixth title defense. "His boxing skills were very good. I didn't expect that. He landed some good shots, and it was hard to connect with him. I tried to knock him out, but I couldn't."

The victory concluded a big year for Ponce De Leon, who went 4-0 and won his third fight since August. Escobedo saw his seven-fight winning streak end.

Ponce De Leon could be headed for a rematch with Gerry Penalosa in the Philippines early next year. He outpointed Penalosa in March. Penalosa later moved down to bantamweight and won a belt, but he would move back up for the rematch.

• The first time lightweight Edner Cherry (23-5-2, 11 KOs) faced Wes Ferguson (17-3-1, 5 KOs) -- in June -- Cherry won a unanimous decision in a competitive fight. In the rematch, he didn't let it go to the judges.

Instead, Cherry brutally knocked Ferguson out in the sixth round. Cherry dropped Ferguson, who is managed by Mayweather, midway through the round with a left hook. He went down to his backside and was able to continue. But not for long.

Cherry, 25, a native of the Bahamas living in Florida, nailed him with another flush left hook and Ferguson, 22, of Flint, Mich., crumpled. Referee Vic Drakulich called it off without a count at 2:59.

• In the final preliminary bout before the American pay-per-view, Matthew Hatton (33-3-1, 13 KOs), Ricky's 26-year-old younger brother, dominated Puerto Rico's Frankie Santos (15-6-3, 7 KOs) to win a unanimous eight-round decision in their welterweight bout.

Hatton, a staple of his brother's undercards, won 80-72 (twice) and 79-73 in a fight devoid of any drama. Hatton was too big and strong for pudgy Santos, who lost his third in a row and dropped to 1-6-1 in his past eight bouts.

• Three weeks after scoring a first-round knockout in his pro debut, Philadelphia prospect Danny Garcia, 19, knocked out Jesus Villareal (1-2-1) at 2:28 of the second round.

Garcia (2-0, 2 KOs), one of manager Shelly Finkel's latest blue chippers, displayed patience, speed and power as he put away game Villareal with ease.

An accidental head butt opened a small cut under Garcia's right eye in the second round, but it didn't give him problems. A thunderous right hand badly hurt Villareal, and a follow-up uppercut sent him staggering backward and down. Although Villareal made it to his feet, Drakulich called it off.

Garcia, who made it to the finals of the U.S. Olympic trials and is signed with Golden Boy, will be kept busy by fighting once a month, Finkel said.

• New York City middleweight Danny Jacobs (1-0, 1 KO), an amateur star who made it to the finals of the U.S. Olympic trials, turned pro in sensational fashion. One big left hook flattened Jose Hurtado (1-2, 1 KO). Referee Toby