This was one of those bouts where you look back and say “I knew this would happen.” But as the bout became more and more one-sided, Mayweather’s technical superiority was breathtaking.

Mayweather, then 28, was looking for his third world title while the WBC junior welterweight champ Gatti, 33, was reigning in his second championship run. The mandatory title defense, which would be Mayweather’s first as a pay-per-view headliner, had gone through postponements due to Mayweather’s troubles outside of the ring stemming from an assault and battery charge.

Before the fight, HBO commentator Max Kellerman predicted that it would be the biggest PPV mismatch since Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson. Turns out he was right. In the first round, Mayweather capitalized on Gatti’s lack of focus to land a left hook and score the fights only knockdown.

It only got worse as Mayweather landed repeatedly with right hand leads and body shots. With Gatti’s eyes shut from swelling, Gatti’s trainer Buddy McGirt mercifully stopped the fight after the sixth round.

It was the event that spawned the acclaimed “24/7” series, set a pay-per-view buy record at 2.48 million and made Floyd Mayweather Jr a crossover star. The fight was also the only time that saw him lose on one of the judges’ scorecards, as he managed to beat Oscar De La Hoya by split-decision and take the WBC junior middleweight title.

In one of Mayweather’s most competitive, De La Hoya’s ring intelligence and superior size often pushed his smaller opponent to the ropes to land flashy, if ineffective blows. Mayweather’s faster hands, paralyzing feints and right hand accuracy ultimately earned Mayweather his biggest win.

In one of the more overlooked story lines, this fight also gave Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach his first opportunity to work against Mayweather, as De La Hoya hired him for this fight on a one-night basis.

The two fighters circled each other from the time they turned pro. It was built-up as a matchup between two undefeated champions with diverse styles who would lead the sport into the new millennium. And in the end, it was one of Mayweather’s easiest bouts.

The 6-foot Corrales needed two trips to the scales to make weight and was two weeks away from going to trial on a domestic abuse charge that would send him to prison. Corrales was viewed as the bigger puncher while Mayweather had superior speed and technique.

The fight was target practice from the opening bell as Mayweather leapt in with pot shots on Corrales, who walked straight into his opponent without a jab. Mayweather dropped Corrales three times in round 7 and three more in round 10 before Corrales’ stepfather/trainer Ray Woods threw in the towel.

Ironically, Mayweather’s new assistant trainer Alex Ariza – who previously worked for Pacquiao – was in Corrales’ camp for this fight.

Mayweather’s win over Oscar De La Hoya earlier in the year had given the unbeaten American his greatest fame yet, while Ricky Hatton had been the lineal champion of junior welterweight for two years after he ended the career of future Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu.

Hatton’s ceiling became evident when he stepped up to 147 pounds to challenge WBA titleholder Luis Collazo and nearly lost to the crafty New Yorker. Hatton had rehabilitated his image a bit with a left hook to the body knockout of former Mayweather foe Jose Luis Castillo.

From the beginning of fight week, it was clear the Manchester, England native had the crowd advantage as several thousand of his loyal fans made the trans-Atlantic trip to Las Vegas to support their fighter.

Once the bell rang, none of the Manchester faithful could help Hatton. Hatton started the fight off at a fast pace, knocking an off-balance Mayweather back with a left hook in the opening round. Still, it was Mayweather’s lead right hands and check left hooks that couldn’t miss as he exploited Hatton’s squared up stance and reddened Hatton’s face early.

By the third round Hatton was already bleeding above his right eye. In the eighth round, another of Mayweather’s check left hooks rattled Hatton into a corner, where Mayweather pummeled him with body shots and right hands that further weakened the British boxer.

It was a check hook once again – in round 10 – that scored the first knockdown as Mayweather led Hatton in and walked him into a left hook that sent him face-first into the corner padding. Hatton rose up but was unsteady and fell back down seconds later, prompting referee Joe Cortez to stop the fight.

Mayweather continued to live up to his “Money” monicker, selling 2.2 million pay-per-views to set a new record for highest grossing event of all time with nearly $150 million generated for his bout with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Much of that interest came from the fact that Alvarez, just 23 at the time, was undefeated at 42-0-1 and was the physically larger of the two. Some felt that it was Alvarez who could hand Mayweather his first defeat.

Some of that size advantage was nullified when Mayweather contracted the fight for a catchweight of 152, two pounds below the junior middleweight division. When the bell rang, it was clear that Mayweather was the teacher and Alvarez was the student.

Mayweather landed his right hand and jabs at will while Alvarez’s slow, predictable attack left him several steps behind Mayweather. Shockingly, one of the three judges – C.J. Ross – scored the fight a draw while the other two gave Mayweather the victory.