Pacquiao knocks out Hatton for historic triumph

From the record, here is the article from Yahoo! News

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AFP - Sunday, May 3

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - - Filipino southpaw Manny Pacquiao knocked out Britain's Ricky Hatton just before the end of the second round to match a boxing record with a title in a sixth career weight class.

Pacquiao slammed a powerful left hand into Hatton's chin to buckle the Englishman's knees and send him down to the canvas on his back unconscious.

Referee Kenny Bayless knelt over the unmoving Hatton and halted the fight after two minutes and 59 seconds of the second round, giving the Filipino star a victory and the International Boxing Organization junior welterweight title.

"Everybody is surprised. Me too. I didn't expect this would be so easy," Pacquiao said. "But I have worked hard in training camp. Nothing personal. I was just doing my job."

Hatton was awakened and walked back to the locker room but was taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution without any public comments.

"Ricky is desperately sorry to all his fans. He got caught with a great shot," said Gareth Williams, Hatton's manager. "We want to congratulate Manny Pacquiao. He demonstrated why he is the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world today and maybe of all time."

Pacquiao, widely considered the world pound-for-pound champion, won his 10th fight in a row, improving to 49-3 with two drawn with his 37th early stoppage. Hatton fell to 45-2, losing at junior welterweight for the first time in his career.

Pacquiao was coming off a victory last December over Oscar de la Hoya that cemented his place as boxing's "pound-for-pound" champion, even though a newly unretired Floyd Mayweather Jnr might one day make him prove the point again.

"This was as big for me as the De la Hoya fight," Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao knocked Hatton down twice in an electrifying first round, the first time with a left to the chin 30 seconds into the fight and the next with a combination near the end of the round.

"It was open for the right hook," Pacquiao said. "I knew he would be looking for my left. That's what we worked on in training camp. We expected to knock him down with the right hand. I surprised him with that too."

In round two, Hatton caught Pacquiao with a left to the head but Pacquiao answered by pressing the attack, cornering Hatton before settling matters with a devastating punch in the center of the ring just ahead of the bell.

"This was no surprise," Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said. "Hatton pops his hand before he throws a punch. He's a sucker for the right hook and that's what we worked on the whole camp. He fights the same way over and over."

According to computer statistics, "Pacman" landed 73 of 127 punches in just under six minutes, including 34 of 53 power punches in the second round, while "Hitman" Hatton connected on only 18 of 78.

"I really thought Ricky would get him," Hatton trainer Floyd Mayweather Snr said. "I dont want to get into it more than that."

Pacquiao secured his place among boxing's all-time greats, adding the junior welterweight crown to past world titles at lightweight, super featherweight, junior featherweight, featherweight and flyweight.

Hatton's only prior loss came in December of 2007 when he was stopped in the 10th round by Mayweather in a welterweight bout in the same ring where he was hammered again by the Asian superstar.

Both 30-year-old fighters had strong, vocal, flag-waving support from a celebrity-enhanced crowd of 15,000 at sold-out Grand Garden Arena.

Hatton's singing, chanting backers were challenged by screaming Pacquiao fans in an atmosphere more familiar to English football than boxing.

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