Hatton: The Talking Cure
Ricky Hatton continues to make the rounds. In advance of his Nov. 24 comeback fight against Vyacheslav Senchenko, Hatton is regaling the press with the struggles he suffered after his 2009 loss to Manny Pacquiao. Everyone’s heart goes out to him. No one wants to see a beloved former champion bottoming out. But the warning signs were there before that KO, just as warning signs are there now.
Although he has discussed his depression before, he is describing it again, and going into more detail than is perhaps necessary.
“I was near to a nervous breakdown, depression, suicidal,” Hatton told Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek. “Most mornings my girlfriend would have to come downstairs and take a knife out of my hand. I had a knife at my wrists, I was in a really bad way, just hysterically crying for no reason. I’ve always liked a little bit of a drink, but my drinking had gone way off the Richter scale, I was having blackouts. And even if I was stone cold sober I was trying to kill myself.”
If that sounds serious it’s because it was serious. Hatton, to his credit, has apparently stopped drinking, stopped crying, stopped contemplating suicide, which is for best since there’s a prizefight that needs his attention.
“The real lowest point was when my little girl came along, who is one-year-old now. [My] son Campbell had the misfortune to see his dad in such a bad way, I am not going to do it anymore to my kids and I’m not going to put my family though it anymore.”
Listening to Hatton makes one believe in fresh starts. It’s out with the old, in with the new, stiff upper lip and on with the show.
“I feel sad because I feel ashamed of myself,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter how many people say, ‘Ricky, everyone has problems and you got beaten by Mayweather and Pacquiao who are the two best fighters of our generation. You did the country proud.’
“That’s very kind of people to say, but they don’t have to deal with this little fella who sits on my shoulder every day telling me that I’m a failure and I’ve let my family and my fans down and British sport, British boxing down. I feel a failure and it doesn’t matter how many people say, ‘ Don’t be too hard on yourself.’ That’s how I feel and that’s how I’m coming back. I feel I’ve got to redeem myself… I’ve got to put the demon and those ghosts to rest.”
How much pressure is too much pressure? Coming out of retirement after a three-year absence would seem to be pressure enough. Yet Ricky, with his “demon and those ghosts,” will be facing not just one opponent but several, at one and the same time.
Hatton said he wants “people to look at me as a four-time world champion, man of the people and not look at me as this joke I feel I’ve become.”
Ricky Hatton was never a joke and is not a joke now. He is not a failure. He is a huge success.
There may some validity to the talking cure. Confessional in nature, it more or less clears the air as it lets us bear witness. It also fosters self-awareness. But self-awareness can veer into monomania, which is not only grotesque, it is also a minefield.
What happens if Ricky loses next month? Will he sink into despair? And if he defeats Senchenko and decides to soldier on, which seems likely, what’s to prevent someone down the road, someone younger, stronger and more defensive-minded than Senchenko, from giving him a beating?
Hatton can fight. Hatton could always fight. But will he be strong enough to endure shame if and when it comes again?
We hope so.
the thresher 11:05am, 11/25/2012
I’ve always believed that Ricky Hatton was a great inside puncher who knew how to position himself to deliver punishing and fight-ending body shots (see the Castillo KO). I also believed that Hatton had great stamina and could close off the ring very effectively (see the Paulie fight). I also believed that he could rise to the ocassion (see Kostya)). Ricky Hatton represented the Brit people in a proud and warrior-like manner and if he had not let the PAC KO get into his head, he might have been able to fight on and finish his career in a better manner. But three losses is not the end of the world. Ricky will go down in the pantheon of gritty Brit champs like Benn, Eubank, Minter, Watson, and many others. He was and is special.
OY 07:05am, 11/24/2012
I’ve always believed that Hatton had taken limited skills and made more of them than any fighter in possession of them should have been able to do—the Little Engine that Could. There is something a bit delusional in Hatton’s inability to not see this in himself. If he truly understood how much he accomplished against nearly insurmountable odds painted with limited skills, then his fall would not have been so hard. He’d see his career as a blessed accomplishment. Now, wearing age, compromised and limited skills and high expectations, this is a man heading for a monster fall.
the thresher 07:35pm, 11/23/2012
Thank you
Robert Ecksel 03:06pm, 11/23/2012
Saturday on Showtime at 5:00 pm ET
the thresher 02:36pm, 11/23/2012
What time is this on and on what channel?
Thanks, mates—in advance
Arjacee 06:09pm, 11/03/2012
Ricky’s problems are many, amplified by the public’s taste for them.
Really, the best thing for him is to take off the gloves, stop drinking, stop blabbing to the press, lay off the drama and go off and become a man. Preferably far from the spotlight which now rather than illuminating glory can only pinpoint pathos.
Just like every other boy has to do in life.
Grow up, Ricky, while there’s still time.
peter 02:36pm, 10/31/2012
The hardest, most lonely, and most confusing part for a fighter’s life is after he hangs up his gloves. The void can be dark and deep and long. A fighter needs to re-invent himself—that’s not easy for anyone. Going backwards, like Hatton seems to be doing—isn’t the answer. He’s merely stalling and will be back in the same predicament years down the road. “Someone who wants to continue to be heard after making a big noise in his youth, needs to learn how to play a different instrument.”
Mike Casey 08:56am, 10/30/2012
You’re spot on, gentlemen. If the comeback doesn’t work out, how will Ricky handle that? At some point there is going to be that big gap in his life again. It’s a great shame. It seems to be the curse of men of action. I have heard many sad tales from British and U.S. Marines on how they suddenly can’t cope with empty days and domestic life after being so active and relevant.
Robert Ecksel 08:47am, 10/30/2012
Thank you Thresher. I’m not sure getting punched in the head is the ideal remedy for self-loathing. There’s an elephant in the room that is sadly being overlooked.
the thresher 08:05am, 10/30/2012
Very nice piece Robert. Any talk of suicide MUST be taken seriously. Too many boxers have done it in the past. Gatti, Arguello, Valero, the kid from Ireland—I forget his name but he was depressed as well. There have been many others.
Someone needs to talk with Ricky NOW. Don’t wait on this.