Ricky Hatton survived a couple of scares on his way to retaining his IBO light-welterweight title via unanimous decision over Juan Lazcano in front of 55,000 fans at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday night.
Hatton's relentless aggression won him landslide 120-110, 118-110, 112-108 verdicts on the three judges' cards but brave Lazcano gave him plenty of trouble and came close to dumping the champion on the canvas in rounds eight and ten.
Hatton showed he had not entirely learned the lessons of his tenth -round knockout defeat to Floyd Mayweather in December as he got careless and was forced to cling on and ride the storm.
And arguably his win over Lazcano - a fringe 140lbs contender who effectively came out of retirement to take the fight - leaves his dream of enticing Mayweather into a rematch a long way off.
But Lazcano came into the ring with a potentially valuable five-inch reach advantage and deserved enormous credit for the way in which he stood up to Hatton's relentless bombs and hung around until the final bell.
With even Hatton's trainer Billy Graham admitting he would not know how the knockout to Mayweather would affect him until the first bell sounded, there were enough imponderables for the sell-out home crowd to savour.
Hatton, who entered the ring wearing a padded robe in a jibe to the critics who deride his habit of ballooning in weight between fights, did not look like showing any ill effects in a confident start.
Lazcano had entered the ring first wearing a sombrero and smiling broadly despite the boos of the pro-Hatton fans, as fight stars like Oscar De La Hoya and Mike Tyson watched from ringside.
Hatton got right in his stride from the first bell, flinging a fine right hook and a straight left, although he left himself open to a good right by Lazcano which reddened his nose.
Much the taller of the two, Lazcano looked far from overawed by his opponent's attacks, jolting out a decent left jab from behind a tight guard which caught the majority of Hatton's chopping early efforts.
Lazcano's accurate counters, with particular emphasis on Hatton's body, were also good enough to remind the favourite he was in a proper contest as the bell rang to end round two.
Hatton hit the deck in the opening seconds of round three but it was clearly a slip and referee Howard Foster judged it so. Hatton responded by clattering home a superb left uppercut, but brave Lazcano rode the storm.
Hatton looked like he was softening up his opponent when he unloaded bombs from either hand in the early stages of round four. But his attack brought a superb response from Lazcano, who scored with a straight left himself.
While Hatton was dominant, his obvious eagerness to finish the job was not helping, with the Mexican still firing back admirably through the onslaught as the fight approached the halfway stage.
The heavy weapons were employed again in round five, a series of left uppercuts seemingly setting up a dramatic finish only for Lazcano to again come through it and respond with a right uppercut on the button.
It was a proud performance from Lazcano, and a more than useful workout for Hatton, who perhaps could have expected a more straightforward night's work.
And the first half of the fight even ended with Lazcano on the attack, the Mexican landing a flurry of left and right hands with his back against the ropes before the bell ended an entertaining first 18 minutes of action.
Hatton survived his first mighty scare in the eighth when he walked into a corkscrewing left hook from Lazcano and a follow-up left to the body had the home favourite temporarily stunned.
Hatton sought desperately to cling onto the challenger while his head cleared but typically he stormed back, battering Lazcano across the ring with three right hooks before the bell ended a frantic round.
Hatton, clearly wilting down the home straight, was rocked again by a big left in round ten, but was given valuable respite when the laces on his boots came undone.
Hatton continued to come forward and land, and had clearly won all but perhaps two of the completed rounds, but entering the 11th Lazcano was showing no signs of giving the 'Hitman' an early night.
Both men touched gloves at the start of the final round and Hatton pursued the challenger until the final seconds before the bell sounded to end a fine contest for which both men deserved credit.
Whether it will prove enough to take Hatton back to the super-fights that he craves deserves to be seen. Next up is expected to be an Autumn showdown against Paulie Malignaggi in New York.
Following the verdict, Hatton admitted he was more nervous about Saturday’s fight than he had been before any of his previous 44.
He told Sky Box Office: ‘The hardest one's out the way, coming back from Floyd Mayweather.
‘I've never been more nervous before about a boxing match in my life.
‘I felt great in the gym but it's different once you get in there.
He added: ‘All those demons are in your mind: “can I come back as strong?”.’
Hatton praised Lazcano's courage, saying: ‘There were about three or four times in the fight when I thought I had him.
‘If I wanted to box my way to a points victory, I could have come through a lot more comfortably.’
Hatton believes the win proved he is the light-welterweight king and he confirmed he would like his next fight to be against Malignaggi, who won an unconvincing victory on the undercard.
