Floyd Mayweather showed he could fight the type of fight Ricky Hatton wanted — up close and engaged — but the outcome was not what the majority of the sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena wanted to see.

Thousands of British faithful that came in support of Hatton looked on in shock Saturday night as Mayweather retained the WBC welterweight title with a 10th-round knockout that reaffirmed him as boxing's pound-for-pound greatest.

With one vicious left hook, Mayweather sent Hatton sprawling to the canvas. After scrambling to a knee and waiting to get up just before Joe Cortez finished the 10-count, Hatton went down for the second and final time under the barrage of Mayweather's three-punch combination.

"I took my time," said Mayweather, who ran his record to 39-0 with his 25th knockout.

"I showed I could fight inside as well as outside. A true champion can adapt to anything."

Hatton suffered his first loss in falling to 43-1. He had only been knocked down one time previously, by Emmon Magee in 2002, but was knocked down twice in one round as well as suffering a cut right eye earlier in the fight, leading to his demise at 1:35 of the 10th.

"I felt alright tonight," Hatton said. "I felt really big and strong. But I left myself open."

Hatton gave credit to Mayweather's body attack, but only in a back-handed sort of way.

"He's better inside than I thought with all the elbows, forearms and shoulders he used," Hatton said. "I felt alright until he got me with the cut. l didn't feel the body shots until then. I didn't quite stick to my game plan. He's not the biggest welterweight, but he's strong. I don't think he was the hardest puncher I've faced. But he was a lot more clever than I expected."

Mayweather, who defeated Oscar De La Hoya in May in the richest fight in boxing history, intimated he's retiring after adding Hatton to his victim list in what is likely to be the second-highest grossing pay-per-view fight of the year.

Asked about a potential title unification bout against unbeaten WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, Mayweather, who said he was retired before accepting Hatton's challenge, hinted that he's again hanging up the gloves.

"Cotto is a helluva champion, but I've done all I can do in the sport, so I'm not thinking about fighting anybody else," Mayweather said. "I always wanted to fight in the U.K. but I was never able to do that. But at least the best of the U.K. came to me..."

Hatton tried to bull his way inside, as is his style, but Mayweather answered him with quickness, elusiveness and power, led by big right hands. Hatton's best punch of the fight was a right hand in the first round that sent Mayweather staggering backward, but mainly the champion was able to pick his shots when he wasn't being held by the ever aggressive Brit.

"I prepared for my toughest opponent and he was that," Mayweather said. "I knew that after I hit him with so many shots and he still kept coming."

All three judges had Mayweather far ahead on points when the fight was stopped.

The overwhelmingly British crowd of 16,500 booed the Star Spangled Banner, all but drowning out the voice of actor and R&B star Tyrese Gibson.

That contrasted with the Brits' enthusiasm when they sang along with Tom Jones, who performed "God Save the Queen.'"

But Mayweather, though his fans were outnumbered in his adopted hometown, ended the fight to chants of "USA, USA, USA."

Lacy wins unanimous decision over Manfredo

Two fighters on the comeback trail clashed in a 10-round super middleweight bout prior to Saturday night's main event at the MGM Grand between unbeaten WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather and Britain's Ricky Hatton.

Former IBF champion Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy won a unanimous decision against The Contender season-one runner-up Peter Manfredo Jr.

Both Lacy and Manfredo entered the bout as Joe Calzaghe road-kill, having lost to the 168-pound world champion in the biggest bouts of their careers.

Lacy was considered a feared champion before he was dominated by Calzaghe in losing a title unification showdown in March, 2006. The St. Petersburg, Fla. native had fought only once since his lone defeat, winning a majority decision against Vitali Tsypko a year ago but suffering a rotator cuff injury in that fight. He subsequently had surgery.

Manfredo, from Providence, had beaten two opponents since losing a third-round TKO against Calzaghe in April.

Lacy scored a knockdown in the fourth round to gain control of the action, but he finished with a nasty cut over his right eye from an accidental head butt in the ninth round.

All three judges favored Lacy, with Chuck Giampa scoring it 95-94, C.J. Ross 96-93 and Jerry Roth 97-92.

Also on the undercard, Daniel Ponce de Leon (34-1, 30 KOs), of Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, won a 12-round unanimous decision against Eduardo Escobedo (20-3 14 KOs) of Mexico City to retain the WBO junior featherweight title.

"I tried to knock him out but he's a tough fighter," Ponce de Leon said.
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