By Joseph Herron: After staging a valiant comeback from over three years of inactivity, Ricky Hatton (45-3, 32 KOs) was knocked out by a lethal shot to the liver via left hook from former WBA Welterweight Champion Vyacheslav Senchenko (33-1, 22 KOs) in the closing seconds of the ninth round in a scheduled ten round contest.
To begin the contest, an exuberant “Hitman” excited the crowd by closing the distance effectively and launching his trademark left hooks to the body and head of the rangy Ukrainian boxer. Although Ricky’s timing and rhythm was not reminiscent of the classic Junior Welterweight Hatton, Manchester’s favorite son was pressing the action successfully and forcing the fight to the larger visiting pugilist in the first half of the bout.
To begin the sixth round, Senchenko began to create distance by using the jab and landing the left hook, straight right hand combination to the body and head of the two division world champion. Despite trudging forward and landing the occasional effective left hand, the 34 year old fight veteran was getting caught cleanly and regularly while marching into the much taller and rangier fighter throughout the last half of the contest.