"I was so embarrassed" - Ricky Hatton reveals how loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. affected him
Ricky Hatton recently took a trip down memory lane and revealed how his defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. affected him.
‘The Hitman’ and ‘Money’ squared off in December 2007 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for Mayweather’s WBC & The Ring Welterweight Titles. The battle of the undefeated prizefighters ended with Mayweather walking away with a tenth-round technical knockout victory.
The loss, according to Hatton, was so painful it left him too embarrassed even to leave his own house. In a recent interview on the Anything Goes with James English podcast, Hatton bared that the defeat to Mayweather hit him “very, very hard.” He said:
“I told all these fans I was going to go over there and do it, and I didn’t. I felt so down and I couldn’t leave the house, I was embarrassed. I had sportsman’s dinners booked, some appearances, this and that, I didn’t want to do any of them - so I cancelled them all.”
He went on to say:
“I didn’t want to walk down the house and when I walked down my hometown, I’d be like ‘are they laughing at me?’”
Hatton’s defeat against Mayweather was the first in his illustrious 15-year professional run that included world titles in the light-welterweight and welterweight divisions.
The 43-year-old shared that he eventually overcame the agony of defeat and now only looks back on the fight with pride.
After the Mayweather defeat, the British fighter successfully defended his IBO and The Ring Light Welterweight Titles against Juan Lazcano in May 2008 and Paulie Malignaggi in November of the same year.
He then yielded the belts to Manny Pacquiao in May 2009 after he was brutally knocked out in the second round of their highly-anticipated bout.
#OnThisDay - In 2009, Manny Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton by KO in round 2 of 12 to win the Ring & Lineal junior welterweight titles. https://t.co/oFhP2Fqsoy
It took Hatton three years to return to the squared circle. In his return fight in 2012, he lost to Vyacheslav Senchenko via ninth-round KO. He then announced his retirement as a boxer immediately afterward.
Check out Ricky Hatton’s story via the James English Podcast below:
Ricky Hatton all set for exhibition match vs. Marco Antonio Barrera
Ricky Hatton, who is now a boxing manager and trainer, is in the thick of preparations for his exhibition match against fellow boxing icon, Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera. The two retired former world champions will face off on July 2, 2022, in Manchester, England.
Hatton shared that his new role as trainer of upstart boxers has helped him stay in shape. He told Boxing Australia:
“You’ve got to give it your best whether your 23 or 43. And it’s nice that they help keep me on my toes, you know, the little whippersnappers. And needs to say that they're learning from working with me everyday.”
@HitmanHatton has turned back the clock and looks in great shape ahead of his exhibition fight.
#HitManHatton https://t.co/tRI8MEWckk