Ricky Hatton signalled his return to form with a classy 11th-round stoppage of Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas last night and promised he can continue to improve in future fights. Fighting for the first time since ending an 11-year training partnership with Billy Graham, Hatton showed that a 30-year-old dog could be taught new tricks.
Hatton, belying his reputation as an out and out slugger, put his seven weeks in training camp with Floyd Mayweather Sr to effective use by dominating a boxing match-up with the slick Malignaggi.
So in control was he that Malignaggi's trainer Buddy McGirt climbed onto the ring apron just 28 seconds into the 11th round and indicated to referee Kenny Bayless that the fight should be stopped on a technical knockout.
Malignaggi was angered by his corner's decision but the scorecards of all three judges indicated he had managed to win only one round in the previous 10, albeit different rounds in the minds of each official.
Regardless, the victory, which takes Hatton's record to 45-1 (32 KOs), silenced the doubters who believed the 30-year-old Englishman was past his prime following a defeat last December at welterweight to pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr and a lacklustre comeback in May in his native Manchester in defeating Juan Lazcano.
"I think bearing in mind I've only done seven weeks with Floyd, I showed the changes that we've been working on," Hatton said, after defeating Malignaggi.
"I don't think you've seen Ricky Hatton move his head as much or jab as much. Sometimes the red mist set in and I put my foot on the gas but Rome wasn't built in a day and I think with the changes that me and Floyd have been working on what I did tonight was quite impressive.
"So I'd like to thank Floyd for bringing back my hunger for the game."
While Hatton was taking great satisfaction in his return to form, Malignaggi was bemoaning his corner's decision to pull the plug on his effort, his first stoppage in 27 professional fights.
"I'm better than this," Malignaggi said. "They wouldn't let me continue. Maybe I wasn't going to win but I'm better than getting stopped.
"I saw nothing crazy out of Ricky. He had a different look, a little different training, but I couldn't get a rhythm.
"I kept my head moving but he uses his jab well and I couldn't hit him. Ricky did a good job, maybe I would have lost on points but I'm better than being stopped. This goes as a knockout on my record but it shouldn't be."
Malignaggi was particularly annoyed that, having lasted 12 rounds against Miguel Cotto in 2006 having suffered a fractured jaw and a broken hand midway through the fight, his corner had jumped in to stop him when he felt he was in far less trouble.
"I tip my hat to Ricky but I was worse off in the Miguel Cotto fight and they didn't stop it then, why should they stop it now?"
In the post-fight press conference, Malignaggi showed there were no hard feelings towards the victor when he presented Hatton with four bottles of "Blue Moon" beer, matching the name of the song adopted by his fellow Manchester City fans and to which he enters the ring.