Mayweather's punches take out Hatton in 10th

LAS VEGAS - Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn't need to dance to beat Ricky Hatton. His fists proved a lot more potent than his feet.

Mayweather remained unbeaten Saturday night and retained his claim to being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by stopping Hatton in the 10th round of a welterweight brawl that had none of the fancy footwork Mayweather has shown in the ring and on reality TV.

Hatton wouldn't let Mayweather move, but it didn't matter as Mayweather used precision punches to wear down the challenger for his crown. Hatton kept trying to get inside and score points, but Mayweather had an answer for everything he did.

The end came after Mayweather landed a crushing left hook that dropped Hatton onto his back in Mayweather's corner. Hatton got up at the count of eight, but Mayweather almost immediately got him on the ropes and landed another flurry of punches to the head.

Hatton went down almost on a delayed reaction, while at the same time referee Joe Cortez moved in to stop the fight, and Hatton's corner threw in the towel at 1:35 of the round.

It was the first loss for Hatton, a brawler from Manchester, England, who did his best to do what no other fighter had ever done and break down Mayweather's defenses. It was clear early on that Hatton would have trouble doing that. Mayweather piled up points and seemed to be cruising to an easy decision when he landed the left hook that was the beginning of the end.

"I knew it was going to be tough," Mayweather said. "That's why I didn't do anything halfway."

Mayweather (39-0) was ahead 89-81 on two ringside scorecards and 88-82 when he landed the thundering punches that both stopped Hatton and answered critics who said he was a boring fighter who fought defensively and rarely took chances when it counted.