On December 8, 2007, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ricky Hatton faced off in a highly anticipated welterweight title fight. The event was promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions and aired on HBO Pay-Per-View. Mayweather was the reigning WBC and The Ring welterweight champion, while Hatton held The Ring light welterweight title.
The fight was dubbed "Undefeated," with both fighters boasting unblemished records. Mayweather entered the ring as the 2-1 favorite, and was guaranteed $11 million plus a percentage of the pay-per-view profits. Hatton had a $6 million guarantee, and it was only his second fight at welterweight.
The sellout crowd of 16,459 produced a gate of $10,393,950, and the fight generated 920,000 pay-per-view buys, resulting in $47 million in pay-per-view revenue. Tickets were priced at $1,000, $750, $600, $300 and $150, and went on sale Monday, September 17th at 10 a.m. PT.
The fight was closely contested in the early rounds, with Hatton pressuring Mayweather and landing some effective punches. However, Mayweather began to assert his dominance in the middle rounds, using his superior speed and accuracy to land clean shots on Hatton.
In the 10th round, Mayweather delivered a devastating left hook that sent Hatton to the canvas. Although Hatton managed to get back on his feet, Mayweather pounced on him and unleashed a barrage of punches, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 1:35 of the round.
The victory marked Mayweather's first defense of his WBC and The Ring welterweight titles and solidified his status as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Mayweather ended up with about $25 million from the fight, while Hatton earned $10 million.
