Las Vegas Weekly

November 23, 2008 · 7:43 AM

Morning Call: Superstars Stallone, Beckham and Statham turn out for Hatton’s TKO victory at MGM Grand

By Robin Leach

David Beckham, not looking at the ring at this moment.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

British superstars David Beckham, Jason Statham and members of the British band Oasis were ringside last night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, sitting alongside muscled movie tough guy Sylvester Stallone to root for their boxing hero Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton. England’s elite even sang the “Hatton Wonderland” song between sips of the country’s national drink: beer!

Hatton wound up scoring a TKO against Brooklyn’s Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi! “It was a great win,” Jason told me post-fight celebrating on the open-air patio of Koi at Planet Hollywood with owner Robert Earl and Stallone. “This was the greatest coincidence for me. I had my Transporter 3 movie premiere here this weekend and, when I heard about the Hatton fight, I just had to stay over. Fabulous.”

“Who’d have thought Becks and I would be in Vegas together singing There’s only one Ricky Hatton, walking in a Hatton Wonderland. Now we’ve got to teach it to Sly. I’ll fly back to New York Sunday and be back on the set in front of the cameras early Monday morning. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

A cluster of celebs.

Statham joins Stallone for their next movie The Expendables, with Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren filming in Brazil this spring.

British soccer sensation David Beckham, who took the $25,000 a night Hardwood Suite in the Fantasy Tower of the Palms for his visit here without his Posh Spice wife, Victoria Beckham, went with the boxing champion after the fight to celebrate at MGM’s Studio 54. First in the ring to help Hatton hold his championship belt was Noel Gallagher from Oasis -- now that’s a throwback to my old days in Manchester!

Floyd Mayweather’s dad -- with the same name as the son -- became Hatton’s trainer for the battle, which ended at the 28-second mark of the 11th round when Malignaggi’s trainer and corner men threw in the towel, signaling the TKO. He’d been punched hard right from the second round but grimly hung on in clinches to stay on his feet after nearly rocking to the canvas with heavy punches in Rounds 8, 9 and then from the start of the 11th.

Malignaggi’s trainer Buddy McGirt commented: “I wanted him to live to fight another day. He was hurting, and I didn’t want him seriously injured.”

In the post-fight conference, Hatton said: “I was in a new camp with Floyd, and I was able to show a lot of new stuff. I enjoyed this fight a lot more than the last time I was here.” (Last December, he lost at MGM Grand to our hometown hero Floyd Mayweather Jr., who then retired from the sport.)

Many of the nearly 10,000 fans who packed the arena had flown here from England to cheer on their champion, who earned a $2.5 million payday for his win. Brooklyn’s hero Malignaggi pocketed $1 million from his first Vegas fight.

“I just couldn’t hit him. He moved too well and was difficult for me to hit,” Malignaggi said. Of the just 133 punches he threw, only 25 connected versus Hatton’s 99 successfully connected punches out of his swung 377 on the judge’s scorecards!

Planet Hollywood’s head honcho Robert Earl took Statham and Stallone off on a nightclub tour with their entourages, which, last I heard, was still going strong early this morning. So was the Hatton victory party at Studio 54 and the Paulie Malignaggi non-win party across the Strip at Rok Vegas in New York- New York. We’ll update this report with those photos today.

Check back here tomorrow for our full Statham interview, Stallone’s new movie secrets and our full photo report of the Transporter 3 movie premiere.

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