While the boxing world and even the sports world as a whole wait to see whether Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. can overcome their stalemate over the drug-testing protocol for their tentative March 13 fight, we can at least revel in one of the greatest moments of Pacquiao's storied career.
Already a five-division champion when he met Ricky Hatton, Pacquiao -- the Filipino idol coming off his destruction of Oscar De La Hoya -- was gunning for a title in a record-tying sixth division when he met "The Hitman" on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Hatton was the junior welterweight champion and unbeaten at 140 pounds, having lost only to Mayweather in a 2007 welterweight title fight.
The excitement was palpable in Vegas. Some 25,000 British Hatton fans had crossed the pond to party like it was 1999, and a sold-out arena of 16,262 -- mostly Hatton supporters -- rocked the house, including verse after verse of their "There's Only One Ricky Hatton" song.
They didn't celebrate for long.
The much faster Pacquiao dropped Hatton hard twice in the opening round and finished him in ruthless fashion in the second round with one of the greatest knockouts in recent memory. It was the obvious choice for the 2009 ESPN.com Knockout of the Year.
Just as the 10-second warning sounded to signal the end of the round was coming, Pacquiao unleashed a full-leverage perfect left hand that crashed into Hatton's chin and knocked him stiff. Hatton fell sideways, going down hard and hitting his head on the canvas. He came to rest flat on his back in the center of the ring, his arms at his sides and his body perfectly aligned on the Rockstar Energy Drink logo.
"Boom! Oh, my gosh! What a straight left hand," HBO's Jim Lampley exclaimed. "And will Hatton make it up from this, or is that it? No way. That is that. What an amazing knockout shot. That is the most spectacular one-punch shot of Manny Pacquiao's incredible career!"
While a joyous Pacquiao celebrated with his team, Hatton was visibly gasping for air as referee Kenny Bayless kneeled beside him. He immediately called off the fight with one second left in the round and attempted to extricate Hatton's mouthpiece as his family looked on in horror from ringside.
"I really didn't see the punch coming, but it was a great shot," Hatton said after being examined by ringside medical personnel and regaining his senses.
The following afternoon, Pacquiao watched a DVD of the fight for the first time with about 15 people in his hotel suite at Mandalay Bay. When the knockout punch landed, Pacquiao turned to a reporter sitting next to him and said unprompted: "Yeah, it's a good shot. I felt it on my knuckles."
Then the reporter asked Pacquiao whether he thought it would hold up as the knockout of the year.
"Yeah, I think so," Pacquiao answered.
Now he knows it.
Brian Viloria KO11 Ulises Solis (April 19 at Manila, Philippines)
Viloria sure lived up to his nickname -- "The Hawaiian Punch" -- as he obliterated Solis with a single right hand to the chin to win a junior flyweight title with four seconds left in the round. Viloria got awesome leverage on the shot, turning into it with all his might. Solis went down to all fours and put his forehead on the canvas. Then he rolled over on his back, struggled to a sitting position and eventually went back to the mat, where medical personnel rushed to his side and gave him oxygen.
Juan Manuel Marquez KO9 Juan Diaz (Feb. 28 at Houston)
This was one of the year's best fights. It also featured several candidates for best round, and it ended with one of the year's best knockouts. Marquez, the lightweight champ, came to Diaz's hometown to defend against the former titleholder, and they waged a tremendous battle that ended with the exclamation point of a big Marquez knockout blow.
Marquez had found a home for his effective uppercut early in the highly competitive fight. With Diaz bleeding from a cut in the eighth, Marquez began to take over and, in the ninth, finished off Diaz. Marquez initially dropped Diaz face-first into the ropes with an uppercut. Moments later, he splattered Diaz in the middle of the ring with a series of blows capped by -- what else? -- a murderous right uppercut as referee Rafael Ramos immediately waved off the fight.
"What you just saw was a really good young fighter knocked out by a great old fighter," HBO's Max Kellerman said, describing the scene at ringside.
Shane Mosley TKO9 Antonio Margarito (Jan. 24 at Los Angeles)
Mosley, who had been hammering Margarito (sans illegal padding that had been discovered in Margarito's mitts in the dressing room before the fight) all night, had finally dropped him at the very end of the eighth round. As the ninth round began, Mosley continued his assault.
"This fight could be stopped any second now," HBO's Jim Lampley blared. "Margarito is getting hit flush with every right hand!" After eating a few more shots, Margarito crumpled again in a corner as referee Raul Caiz moved in to stop the fight.
"Shane Mosley has annihilated Antonio Margarito," Lampley exclaimed. Given the reputation Margarito had for an indestructible chin, it was a stunning scene. Mosley, who won the welterweight title again in an upset, had closed the show in style, outlanding Margarito 21-0 in the ninth round.
Source: ESPN Go
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