Hatton wins wild bout to claim welterweight title

Ricky “Hitman” Hatton beat Luis Collazo in a unanimous decision on Saturday night in Boston, winning the WBA welterweight title after 12 rounds of toe-to-toe brawling that left both sides badly bruised – and claiming victory.

Hatton sent Collazo to the canvas in the first 15 seconds of the fight, but by the third round it seemed to be going the other way.

Collazo staggered the 2005 fighter of the year several times in the final round, and many in the crowd expected the decision to go the other way.

But the judges scored the fight 115-112, 115-112 and 114-113 for the pride of Manchester, England, whose fans had the new Boston Garden rollicking like a World Cup match.

The announcement of Hatton’s victory drew a stunned semi-silence from the crowd, but it also keeps Hatton on track for his attempt to unify the division. Hatton moved up from junior welterweight to challenge Collazo.

•In other fights, late substitute Eric “Mighty Mouse” Aiken won the IBF featherweight title in Boston when previously unbeaten champion Valdemir Pereira was disqualified at 1:37 of the eighth round for a series of shots below the belt. … In Zwickau, Germany, Arthur Abraham retained the IBF middleweight title in a rousing 12-round brawl with Kofi Jantuah. The fight was ruled a technical draw after Bika’s fourth round head butt opened a cut under the German’s right eye and it swelled shut. … In Sheffield, England, Clinton Woods stopped Jason DeLisle in the sixth round to retain his IBF light-heavyweight title.