Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that former Jr. Welterweight and Welterweight champion, Ricky Hatton has offically announced his retirement from boxing.
Hatton has not fought since getting drilled in two rounds by Manny Pacquiao in May of 2009.
“After a lot of soul searching over the last couple of years I have finally decided to confirm I will never box again and there will be no coming back,” Hatton said. “There have been so many times since the Manny Pacquiao fight when I have woken up and thought I would give it one more go, but it was not to be.
“There have been amazing highs, and although I always wanted to be a world champion, I went beyond my wildest dreams.”
Known as “The Hitman,” Hatton was 45-2 with 32 KOs during a career that began in 1997 but, following his loss to Pacquiao, fell apart due to his battles with alcohol and depression and admission to a rehab clinic after the News of the World published a video that showed him snorting cocaine.
“Beating Kostya Tszyu was my greatest triumph, but there were plenty of other great nights and memories,” Hatton said.
“Since I put on the gloves as a 10-year-old in Hattersley, boxing has been my life and still is,” Hatton said. “My promotional company is going well and I am looking forward to taking one of my fighters on a similar road to me. People say no fighter will ever have the fan base I had, but one of my aims is to make sure one of my boxers gets a bigger one and achieves more than me.”
“Defeating Jose Luis Castillo, unifying the light welterweight title against Carlos Maussa, winning a world welterweight title when I fought Luis Collazo, beating Jon Thaxton to become British champion, fighting in front of almost 60,000 fans on Manchester City’s ground — it seems endless,” Hatton said. “And when I look at my record the only men to beat me were Manny and Floyd — still No. 1 and 2 in the pound-for-pound lists on the day I retire.”
“Away from boxing, I have so much to look forward to,” Hatton said. “My son, Campbell, is a boy any parent would be proud to call his lad and is growing up so fast I wonder where the years have gone. I am about to become a dad for the second time and that cannot happen quickly enough. Jennifer and I are so excited. She is my rock.
“There are so many people I want to thank for supporting me throughout my career and who made ‘The Hitman’s’ journey possible. My family were there for me every step of the way. My mum and dad, brother Matthew, my amateur trainers Ted Peate and Paul Dunne, who taught me to box, my agent Paul Speak, my lawyer Gareth Williams, the British Boxing Board of Control and everybody at Hatton Promotions.
“Sky TV has been fantastic to me and I look forward to continuing my association with them as a promoter, the British media were fair and the local BBC and Granada followed me to Las Vegas. As big a thanks as any must go to the fans that would never stop singing and so often turn Las Vegas into a corner of England. Thank you all, but the fighting in the ring is over and I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends on my journey as a promoter.”
