Hatton to consider his options

Hatton's challenge came to a crushing end in the 10th round when Mayweather knocked him to the canvas twice with jolting left hooks and prompted referee Joe Cortez to wave the contest off.

"I'll go away and have a few months off to have a proper think about it, but don't forget I moved up to welterweight to fight the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world," said Hatton. "It wasn't my night but I feel like I'm still improving."

He added: "The knockout didn't feel as bad as I thought it would and I feel like I've been in a lot more gruelling fights which I've won."

Hatton did enough to suggest he has a glittering future back down at 140lbs, where he still reigns as the world number one and has a number of prospective big fights to consider.

Chief among his list of potential opponents is his British rival Junior Witter, while there is still rather ambitious talk of a Wembley clash against Oscar De La Hoya in May next year.

De La Hoya said: "The reason why it would be viable is because of his style. It would be a clash of the titans.

"Obviously you can't rule anything out. All options are open but first we will absorb what happened here."

Hatton's trainer Billy Graham has often advocated an early retirement for his man, who earned an estimated £10million for this fight, but he said: "Ricky still has a future down at light-welterweight if he wants one.

"He's still the best in world because that's his natural weight."