In boxing, as in many other sports, although it is not frequent, there are world-class athletes who cannot bear the pressure and fall victim to drug abuse and depression. (COURTESY EURO SPORT)
Before the former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, another boxing legend also from Manchester, he also suffered with these kinds of problems but managed to get by. This is Richard John Hatton, better known as Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, world champion of super lightweight and welterweight.
There are countless boxers who have been able to paralyze entire countries and make their fights vibrate, but Ricky Hatton was something special, with a life full of ups and downs, he was the most popular British boxer of recent times and perhaps of all the history.
When Hatton went to Las Vegas to fight Floyd Mayweather, HBO commentators couldn’t believe the number of fans who crossed the pond to cheer on their idol. More than 35,000 people made the trip to Sin City to cheer, with their enthusiasm and desire to party so characteristic of English fans. It was on this occasion, when Hatton fans depleted the luxurious MGM Grand’s beer stocks for the first time in history. As the hotel owners would later say, they never made as much money at a sporting event as when the Manchester fighter fought.
His popularity was based in large part, in addition to his exciting fighting style, on his personality, always putting his fans first. It was very easy for him to mix with his fans, friends and neighbors in his Manchester neighborhood because he was like one of them. In fact, despite his face bruised and scarred by a bloody war, he was always seen at the post-combat party drinking pints of beer. On one occasion, after beating Carlos Maussa, they had to sew the cuts on his eyebrows, but when the doctors were going to administer anesthesia and told him that he would not be able to drink alcohol that night, he preferred to have it sewn without anesthetics to to be able to party with their fans. It also attracted great personalities from the world of cinema, football and other celebrities such as Tom Cruise, David Beckham, Brad Pitt or Wayne Rooney.
He won his first world title against great champion Kostya Tsyu in 2005, causing the Australian-based Russian to retire on his bench. This victory earned him to become the first English boxer to win the title of fighter of the year by the BWAA (Boxing Writers Association of America), and caused the Hitman to start getting offers in the United States. After boxing with Luis Collazo and Juan Urango, he fought José Luis Castillo whom he knocked out in the 4th round with his trademark hook to the liver. After this impressive victory, the fight against Floyd Mayweather was closed, and that’s when everything started to go wrong.
Although he confessed that he really liked the experience and had a great time in the previous fight (the press conferences, the weigh-in, the HBO 24/7 program), the fight did not go according to his plans, He put in a good performance but in the end Hatton was getting frustrated trying to catch up with Money and consequently leaving a lot of room for Mayweather to counterattack and that’s how the end of the bout came. Hatton launched himself for his rival, who, with great skill, counterattacked him with a left crochet that made him collide with the red corner and fall to the canvas. He got up but after another tremendous left from Floyd, Ricky couldn’t keep his balance and the referee correctly stopped the fight.
Few people suspected it, but that was when Hatton’s depression began, which was ended with a strong argument with his parents, with whom he has not yet spoken, a legal dispute with his long-time coach, Billy Graham, and with him. brutal knockout that the Filipino Manny Pacquiao gave him in two rounds. The image of himself lying on the ground almost unconscious haunted him and his escape route was alcohol and drugs. He put on a lot of weight and frequently had intentions to end his life, until he reached a point where he decided to change, and gave a surprising announcement to the world: Ricky Hatton, after three and a half years retired, was going to return to the ring.
He used boxing to redeem himself from all the demons that haunted him and the Ukrainian Vyacheslav Senchenko, former world champion, was chosen for the return of the British idol. He spent more than four months training in a spartan way, until he managed to get rid of his overweight, achieving an impeccable physical shape, almost better than when he won his first world title seven years earlier. Unfortunately, the return was not as everyone expected, Hatton’s timing was not the same as in the past and despite putting a lot of desire on him, in the 9th round Ricky was knocked down by a blow to the liver from which he could not recover. His return had not been as expected but Hatton, at the press conference after the fight, announced his final retirement, although he did not care. In her eyes he had already won. He was once again a person that people could be proud of. He was no longer ashamed to look at his face in a mirror and all those demons that tormented him were nowhere to be seen.
He is currently a boxing coach and promoter at his Manchester gym and last year he published a book of his about his stories and anecdotes lived in the city of casinos, which had given him so much joys and sorrows. He wrote it, in part, to publicize his adventures in Las Vegas and once and for all, accept what happened and be at peace with it. He toured the country to promote it and sign the books (pictured with a server). At all stops on his tour, queues formed almost miles to get a signed copy.
Let’s hope that the story of the former heavyweight champion has as happy an ending as that of the Hitman, who gave British boxing so much glory.