AS SATURDAY NIGHT inched towards Sunday morning in Manchester, Ricky Hatton, the former two-weight world boxing champion, announced his retirement for a second time following defeat to Vyacheslav Senchenko.
The popular Hitman returned to the ring searching for the answer to the question that had burned within him since Manny Pacquiao demolished him in his last fight in 2009. He finally got his answer.
Hatton, now 34, simply doesn’t have it anymore.
He suffered his second straight knockout defeat, but more worryingly, he lost against a man that wouldn’t have lasted the distance with him in his prime.
A Ricky Hatton retirement announcement is nothing new; however, you suspect that this time he means it. Speaking at the post-fight press conference, the popular Mancunian seemed at peace with his decision. “I needed one more fight to see if I had still got it – and I haven’t,” he said.
“I couldn’t have done any better. A fighter knows and I know it isn’t there any more. I have got to be a man and say it is the end of Ricky Hatton.”
Despite starting the fight in his typical high-pressure fashion, it was soon obvious to see that he had indeed lost it. His timing was off; his jab and head movement were non-existent.
All the Hitman could do was get hit.
Hatton was quick to recognise that he had done all he could do. “I got in the best shape I possibly could but if I hadn’t been hit with that body shot I would have just scraped over the line.
“It’s too many hard fights, I’ve burned the candle at both ends, I’ve put my body through the mire in and out of the ring”.
As he left the ring, Hatton gave an emotional interview. It was an interview that might have caused his family, friends and fans some concern. He was rightfully devastated, crushed with the same force as the body punch that ended his comeback.
The fear that the demons that consumed him after his last retirement might return seemed a real possibility. Thankfully after some time to reflect on what happened, Hatton seemed content that he had finally got the answer to the question that had stayed with him for the past three and half years.
“I’m a happy man tonight. I don’t feel like putting a knife to my wrists. I have got the answers I needed. I can look at myself in the mirror and tell myself I did my best.”