Pacquiao destroyed Hatton 10 years ago Thursday

10 years ago Thursday night Manny Pacquiao scored arguably the most impressive single-punch knockout of his long career.

On May 2nd, 2009, in a sold out (16,000 seats) MGM Grand arena in Las Vegas, Pacquiao successfully defended his Undisputed Junior Welterweight championship by devastating British Challenger and World Junior Lightweight champion, Ricky Hatton, in just two rounds.

And, it’s not just that Pacquiao won easily and impressively, but how he won with a lethal left at the end of the second round that will be forever remembered in this one.

Relive the two round fight entirety here:

Pacquiao who came in at 48-3-2 (36 KOs) swarmed Hatton right away landing right hooks and straight left hands and scoring an early knockdown. Hatton seemed to weather the storm is the first round went on, and actually landed a couple of rights of his own bravely standing and trading with Pacquiao.

However, Pacquiao again delivered another knockdown just before the bell to end the first. Hatton beat the count and went to his corner. A sign of just how dominant the Filipino World Champ was came from the power punch stats in the first round: where Pacquiao landed 31 of them to just eight for Hatton.

The second round began and Pacquiao continued to consistently score with combinations and his lightning quick hand speed seemed simply too much for Hatton to defend. Hatton continued to stay in front of Pacquiao and risk-taking big shots ,while trying to land one of his own.

That strategy ended up backfiring one final time, as Pacquiao delivered the devastating left the chin which had Hatton knocked out before he landed on the canvas. Referee Kenny Bayless saw the stars in the eyes of Hatton, as he lay prone on the mat and immediately waved the fight off at 2:59 of the second round.

Pacquiao, who eventually became the first fighter to ever win a world title in the flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions was named the “Fighter of the Decade” for the 2000s.

Pacquiao is still active at age 40 and holding a portion of the Welterweight championship in 2019 and he has 61 wins with 7 defeats and two draws.

Meanwhile, Hatton only fought once more after the Pacquiao fight. Coming off a three year layoff in 2012, he was knocked out one final time, and then retired for good. He finished 45-3 with 32 KOs and numerous World title wins.