By Scott Gilfoid: I really hate to gloat but I think I told the Ricky Hatton fans that he would be knocked out, and as usual, I was right. I knew he was going to lose but I didn’t think he was going to get beaten so easily by Manny Pacquiao.

I guess I overestimated Hatton’s talents a little. Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) made easy work of the British bulldog, knocking him down three times in the fight – twice in the 1st and a final time in the 2nd – before the fight was stopped after Hatton was knocked cold by a big left hook from Pacquiao in the final seconds of the 2nd round.

Hatton couldn’t get up, and just laid there out cold on the canvas while a medical team was rushed into give him assistance. Referee Kenny Bayless officially stopped the bout at 2:59 of the 2nd.

After the fight, Hatton’s trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. suggested that Hatton should retire from boxing, and I have to agree with him. However, it isn’t that Hatton has lost a step or anything over the years, but rather when Hatton finally fought a good opponent, his mediocre skills were exposed.

The problem with Hatton is that he hasn’t been facing the best fighters in the light welterweight division for many years and when he finally did have to face a good fighter for a change, the logical conclusion was that he would get knocked out.

Believe me, if Hatton had faced Junior Witter, Timothy Bradley, Kendall Holt, Victor Ortiz, Ricardo Torres, Marcos Maidana, Nate Campbell or Joan Guzman, he would have been knocked out long ago. I think Hatton should probably retire, though, because if he continues fighting, he won’t face the good light welterweights and will likely continue to pick and choose fighters that he feels that he beat.

Forget about him fighting any of those guys. If anything, we’ll see him against the softest opposition available and then probably against some big named opponent that will rip him a new backside like Pacquiao did. It isn’t that Hatton is shot, it’s that this is what happens when a fighter takes a big step up against more talented opponents. It would have likely happened many times already if Hatton had fought better fighters, but oh well.

Gone is Hatton’s chance at a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez, because I can’t see either of those fighters wanting to waste their precious time fighting Hatton after this knockout loss. If Hatton wants to rebuild his credibility, there’s only one way to do it and that’s by fighting the top light welterweights in the division, and I’m not talking about Paulie Malignaggi either.

Hatton looked like he had forgotten absolutely everything that Mayweather Sr. had taught him. There was little head movement, no jab, little technical skills by him and just his usual bum rushing style. It was frankly hilarious to watch him. Hatton was fighting the same way that he had always fought against his mostly soft opposition.

Of course, it wasn’t going to work against a good fighter like Pacquiao. Mayweather Jr. exposed Hatton, as did Juan Lazcano, but you could see that Hatton’s ability was very crude and one-dimensional dating back to even his fight against a shot Kostya Tszyu in 2005.

In the 1st round, Hatton mostly tried to mug Pacquiao the same way that he did to Tszyu, attempting to clinch and wrestle him. Pacquiao, however, was much too clever and nailed Hatton repeatedly with left hands and right hooks as Hatton would lunge in to grab him.

When Hatton would try to punch from the outside, he’d miss much of the time due to his poor hand speed and the fact that he was telegraphing his shots. Near the end of the round, Pacquiao nailed Hatton with a right hook as Hatton was attempting to land a wild left hook of his own, dropping Hatton to the canvas at :56 of the round.

Hatton landed face first into the canvas. He got up, took a standing eight and continued to try and mug Pacquiao. However, as Hatton was trying to grab Pacquiao, he was hit with a two hard left hands and dropped in the corner with only seven seconds to go in the round. Luckily for Hatton, by the time he got to his feet, the time in the round ran out and he was allowed to escape intact.

In between rounds, Hatton looked hurt and totally out of it, like he was in out space. It was funny, because I knew he was going to get stretched as soon as the action started again. Boy, was I right.

In the 2nd round, Hatton continued to fight without using a jab or head movement, just plowing ahead in his old style and trying to take Pacquiao’s head off with wild rights and lefts. Hatton missed more often than not, and was countered by big right hooks and left hands from Pacquiao. Hatton was warned for using one of his old weapons, the trusty rabbit punch while in close.

Following that, Hatton landed a couple of shots, but was getting riddled to pieces by the sharpshooting from Pacquiao. Seconds later, Pacquiao tagged Hatton with a big left hand with seven seconds to go in the round, sending Hatton down for the third and final time in the fight.

Hatton was out cold even before he hit the canvas, and after he landed hard on his back, with his head bouncing off the canvas, Hatton just laid there with eyes partially open, not moving. The fight was then stopped and a medical team rushed into to assist Hatton. It must have taken at least a minute or more for Hatton to awaken, but he looked fine after he came out of it.

Like I said, Hatton probably needs to retire from the sport. I think he should continue if he were serious about wanting to fight the best in the light welterweight division, but that’s not going to happen, so I’d like to see him retire rather than to see him carry on and continue fighting opponents like Lazcano, and Malignaggi.