British hero Ricky Hatton was recently speaking about the upcoming comeback Manny Pacquiao will make in July, this the 46 year old’s fight with WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios. And Hatton was honest enough to say he doesn’t think the man he himself faced in the ring back in 2009 has much of a chance of beating Barrios, before the subject then changed to the dark places “Hitman” was taken to after he had been so brutally knocked out by Pacquiao.
Speaking with DAZN News, Hatton said he hopes we do not witness a “tragedy” with Manny being badly beaten by 30 year old Barrios, before he then spoke about the demons he encountered after his loss to Pac-Man.
“I really, really struggled when I lost to Manny Pacquiao,” Hatton said. “I fell out with my mum and dad at the time but I’m proud to say I’ve made up with them, and I fell out with Billy Graham who was my trainer at the time. Loads of things were going badly for me – my relationship had just finished, I’d been knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in two rounds and I had to retire so I didn’t care if I lived or died. I was in such a bad place but the thing is I never told anyone about it. I thought I could do it myself but I couldn’t and I nearly killed myself. I tried killing myself several times and that’s why I’m an ambassador for mental health now, especially in the sport.”
The Pacquiao punch that sent Hatton’s life spiralling
Powerful stuff there from Hatton. The 46 year old drank dangerously heavily in retirement, perhaps even before, and he is said to have dabbled with drugs. Thankfully, Hatton was able to get himself right and get to the good place he finds himself in today. Like Tyson Fury, Hatton now speaks up on the issue of mental health and he supports people who are going through an ordeal similar to that of his own.
Comebacks, collapses, and the quiet war behind the scenes
Hatton, a genuine hero to millions, is brave enough to speak about how low he really was after his career looked to have reached its end. As things turned out, Hatton fought again after the loss to Pacquiao, with him returning to face Vyacheslav Senchenko in November of 2012. Hatton lost the comeback fight but he has won the war with his former demons.
