Referee Kenny Bayless attends to Ricky Hatton after the Briton was flattened by a left hook from Manny Pacquiao in the second round. Bayless said he didn’t bother to count after Hatton hit the canvas. (Reuters)

LAS VEGAS — Referee Kenny Bayless thought about administering the count on Ricky Hatton as soon as the British fighter fell to the floor after taking a lethal left hand from Manny Pacquiao that put an end to the scheduled 12-rounder Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

But before Bayless could initiate the count, he knew immediately there would be no need for it.

“Hatton wasn’t moving and you say that he (Hatton) was out even before he hit the floor,” said Bayless.

“I didn’t even bother to count,” said Bayless, who called the fight to an end with one second remaining before the end of the second round with Hatton motionless on the deck.

“His eyes were glazy. I never counted,” said Bayless, one of the top arbiters in the sport.

“Mannys’ fast and strong,” observed Bayless, who was the closest to the action other than the two fighters.

The Hatton fight was the third time Bayless was assigned to officiate a Pacquiao headliner, having worked the Filipino’s fights with Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez, both rematches for Pacquiao.

“You just don’t know where his (Pacquiao) combinations are coming from.”

Team Hatton had approved of Bayless as referee for the Pacquiao fight since he is said to be not too hard on fighters who use clinching and holding as part of the strategy.

Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach had batted for the appointment of Joe Cortez, who doesn’t tolerate too much of it, but Hatton’s camp prevailed.

In the end, however, the choice of the referee hardly mattered.