On May 2, 2009, Stockport-born Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton made the third defence of his IBO light welterweight title against Filipino Manny ‘Pac-Man’ Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. In the opening round Hatton attempted to tie up Pacquiao and fight close in, but was caught with a powerful right hook after the first minute or so and another after two minutes, which knocked him down. Hatton survived, but towards the end of the round was in trouble again, felled by a straight left.
Although apparently still feeling the effects of his second knockdown, Hatton, once again, started the second round positively, landing one or two decent punches. However, Pacquiao responded by landing several powerful headshots of his own. Finally, with less than ten seconds of the round remaining, Pacquiao delivered the coup de grace, a perfect left hook that caught Hatton flush on the jaw and knocked him clean out.
Hatton lay motionless in the centre of the ring, with referee Kenny Bayliss waving to signal the end of the contest. Attended by ringside medical staff, Hatton took some time to regain consciousness, but was eventually pictured sitting up, much to the relief of everyone concerned. Officially, Pacquiao won by knockout after 2:59 of round two and, in so doing, confirmed his status as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Hatton announced his retirement from boxing in 2011, having never fought again; he returned to the ring, once, in 2012, but retired for good shortly afterwards.