Hatton’s body English is all wrong in 10th

LAS VEGAS -- The British invasion of the Las Vegas boxing world started to stumble midway through the third round and fell flat on its back in the 10th.

In that round, Floyd Mayweather Jr. silenced all the noise and songs and hoopla that had traveled across the big pond. He did it with a left hook that boxers only dream about. It landed on Ricky Hatton’s chin and sent him face-first into the ring’s corner post.

He got up shakily from that one and was immediately set upon by Mayweather, who connected with a left-right combination. Hatton took it, then sort of listed to his right before collapsing on his back again.

And so a week that had attracted as many as 25,000 fans from England, here with the great hope that their beloved and unbeaten pub fighter could beat the similarly unbeaten Mayweather on his turf and in the city with the world’s biggest spotlight, ended in a flash.

All week, they mingled and drank and danced and sang songs they created for him. They came, they saw, they spent their money, they drank an ocean of beer and, in the end, they were conquered. Again.

But so much for nationalism.

Hatton, coming into this welterweight title fight with a 43-0 record, was the sentimental favorite of many fans, including those from the United States. Mayweather has now won 39 fights without a loss, and has been fairly cocky about his skills and superiority. People like athletes who are successful and don’t brag. Mayweather is half of that.

Interestingly, after a week of Brits dominating the hallways and weigh-in and pretty much all the news, an incident just before the fight seemed to have the effect of suddenly turning Mayweather into a sympathetic figure. After Tom Jones sang “God Save the Queen,” Tyrese Gibson sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Brits booed and hissed and stayed noisy throughout.

It was ugly and surprising, since the British fans here had been almost as lovable and fun as they had been loud to that point.

The fight was somewhat similar. Ugly, but in the end, not surprising.

Hatton came out aggressively. He chased and lunged at Mayweather, swung freely and landed enough punches to win the first two rounds. All three judges scoring the fight had Mayweather winning those rounds. They actually pay these people to do this.

In the third, Mayweather started collecting himself, landed two big punches and sent Hatton to his corner with a cut over his right eye. After that, it appeared to be all Mayweather, especially a sixth round in which Hatton got Mayweather between the ropes and hit him on the back of the head. Referee Joe Cortez deducted a point and the three musketeers (judges Burt Clements, Dave Moretti and Paul Smith) were able to get that one right, scoring the round for Mayweather, 10-9.

Hatton fought on bravely, and Cortez became the busiest man in the place, constantly breaking up clenches and warning both fighters about rabbit punches. In the end, nobody could question Hatton’s guts.

“He was the toughest competitor I’ve ever fought,” Mayweather said. “I kept throwing body punches and he kept coming.”

Hatton’s assessment was that Mayweather’s defense was too tough to crack.

“He’s better inside than I thought,” Hatton said. “With all the shoulders and elbows and forearms he uses, you can’t get to him.”

Despite all the shots he took, Hatton said he felt strong.

“Until he caught me,” he added.

And then, he had a message to has fanatically loyal fans:

“I’ll be back. Don’t worry. Sorry about this.”

In the end, on a night of action and sound and celebrity, the fight came close to living up to the hype.

Tiger Woods was here. So was Will Ferrell, Sylvester Stallone and even David Beckham, looking dapper and rich in a gray suit. The dress code ranged from little black dress to torn T-shirt. The Brits had their own band -- four guys in the upper deck with trombones and trumpets.

The hope of many was that the pug-nosed Brit would knock the stuffing out of the peacock-strutting American.

But one highlight-film left hook brought reality to this show. And as it turned out, a Friday analysis from former champion Shane Mosley was the most on-target.

“If I’m fighting Hatton [which he never did], I would box him for awhile,” Mosley said. “I’d get his rhythm, and then I’d locate, confuse and hit.”

In a memorable 10th round at the MGM’s Grand Garden Arena, Mayweather did all of that, giving a lot of people with passports a glum trip home.

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Bill Dwyre can be reached at bill.dwyre@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Dwyre, go to latimes.com/dwyre.