by James Slater – Yesterday, in Hyde, Manchester, Ricky “Hitman” Hatton opened the doors to his new gym, “Ricky Hatton’s Health and Fitness Centre.” Upon doing so, the 30-year-old also spoke to the members of the media that were in attendance. Needless to say, the hottest topic of conversation was the May 2nd loss Hatton suffered at the hands of Manny Pacquiao and whether or not Ricky will fight again.
Brutally honest as always, Hatton admitted he has been crying since the 2nd round KO loss, and that he has had the urge to hide himself away since the loss, only the second of his career.
Speaking to The Star newspaper, Britain’s most popular fighter of all-time said he needs a lot more time yet before he can make up his mind about his fighting future.
“There have been tears,” Hatton said. “After all, it has been difficult to take for me. I just want to rest, re-charge my batteries and get life back to normal. I’m not saying it is over yet, but I’m not in a position to make a final call. Once I get back to normal, I’ll be in a position to decide what I want to do. You won’t hear the last of me in boxing, but the physical side of fighting is the last thing that should be on my mind right now.
“I feel I have let everyone down. You can’t get a more embarrassing result, really – knocked down after two seconds and then knocked out.”
As proud a warrior as Hatton is, he says he has found it hard facing people since the most crushing defeat of his boxing life. However, as popular an after-dinner speaker as Ricky is, he will be doing some shows in the coming days.
“I don’t feel like showing my face,” Ricky admitted. “I’ve got a couple of dinner shows to do in Coventry and Southport, but I’m thinking the sooner I get out there and deal with all of this, the better. I have huge pride in myself and this defeat to Manny was hard for me to take.”
Flashing a smile at times while being interviewed, Hatton then spoke about how the decision he eventually makes about boxing on or not will be the biggest decision of his life.
“I’m still devastated about it and spending time with my family is my priority now, so I can’t say what I am going to do,” Ricky continued. “It’s easy for people to say, ‘Hang them up, Ricky. It’s going to be a great life out of the ring.’ But you need final closure on these things. It will be the most important decision I will ever make.
“Maybe I will say, ‘Come on, Ricky, bounce back’ when some people are expecting me to retire. Right now, I don’t feel that I ever want to lace on another pair of gloves.”
With a fine record of 45-2, Hatton has achieved plenty in boxing and whichever decision he does make it will be accepted by his army of fans. For what it’s worth, I think he WILL have at least one more fight, next year.