Ricky Hatton RIP

Not often that the death of someone I didn't know - albeit I did meet him a couple of times - knocks me as sideways as this. Devastating news which somewhat overshadowed yesterday's win for me. I was lucky enough to be there when he beat Kostya Tszyu in 2005 which for me was one of the greatest nights in British boxing history. Tszyu was a fantastic fighter who had a habit of making decent fighters look silly. Zab Judah's famous chicken dance in Vegas a few years earlier a classic case in point. Funnily enough, Ricky was at that fight and he told Tszyu that he was hoping he could fight him one day. I won't lie - I thought Tszyu would be too strong for him so for Hatton to not only win the fight but have Tszyu quit on his stool was the stuff of dreams.

I know he never quite hit those heights again, although there were still some memorable wins such as the one over Castillo, but one thing he didn't do was shy away from taking on the best fighters. I thought he did ok against Mayweather but didn't do himself justice against Pacquaio. By Ricky's own admission, his love of beer and fast food cut short his career. He never failed to make the weight for his fights but the effort he had to put in to do that must've taken its toll. You can probably get away with that if you're taking on lower calibre fighters but when you're up against the best it's going to be an issue. That's the way he chose to live his life though and no-one can say it was boring.

I honestly thought he had a decent handle on his mental heath issues - unlike a lot of people, Ricky wasn't ashamed to talk about it which is often seen as a huge positive so what happened came as a big shock.

One funny story I have was following the last game at Maine Road. I was in Yates's in town and I asked him to sign my season ticket. I grabbed a pen from behind the bar and handed it to him. From memory, it was one of those shitty William Hill pens and the ink ran out halfway through his signature! I'll never forget the look of disdain on his face - thankfully, I snaffled another pen and got the full autograph in the end.

RIP Hitman
 
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Seemed like a lovely genuine guy as well as being a world class sportsman and authentic football fan. Fiercely proud of his home city, which he represented with distinction, whilst also being well loved across the country. RIP.
 
paulchapo said:
I've not seen the documentary which I presume this is from. Absolutely heartbreaking. If it was suicide that took Ricky it's beyond sad. Unfortunately all the love and help in the world sometimes isn't enough.

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Yep, and unfortunately once you've been down to that dark place it's always a possibility that you can fall back down there again at some point. It's hard for me to understand how someone who seemingly had it all, who was loved by so many people and had so much to live for would go there. It reminds me of Gary Speed in some ways. He had such a fantastic career, the losses were nothing to be ashamed about but I sensed they hit him hard even after he retired. There must have been something that was causing him so much pain that he just couldn't deal with it. That documentary was one of the best I've ever seen. I didn't know him but genuinely loved the man, they'll neve be another like him. The world feels like a poorer place without him.
 
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When i worked at the then M.E.N
I saw many boxing events there but when Ricky fought there it was a whole different fight fan that turned up .City Utd both Scouse teams fans were there for Ricky he united 2 Cities on those great nights..Met him a few times ,so approachable made you feel like he was your mate.He drank in both City & Utd pubs without any problems .He was one of us .Never see his like again . Off you go Ricky R.I.E.P
 
Loved watching him fight, so entertaining, had a surreal experience meeting him in the toilet in the Ritz and ended up singing were shit and we know we are.. it was during that Stuart Pearce season, hope he finds peace
 
ninjamonkey said:
If it was indeed suicide, he must have been in an incredibly dark place to do it the day before the derby. Undoubtedly, he was as big of a blue as anybody, you'd like to think if nothing else, the anticipation for the game would have got him through this weekend. Really sad to think how bad it must have been for him to not even want to see 1 more day and get to see the derby.
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I didn't want to say anything yesterday, but I was told by people close to Ricky that he took his own life.

Mental health amongst men in the UK is rampant. Men are raised to be tough, & told to keep a stiff upper lip & that showing their emotions & revealing their fears is a sign of weakness.

Many wear a mask when in public to hide what's going on inside their minds. The problem arises when it's just the person alone in the privacy of their four walls. That's when the inner demons tend to surface.

I just wish more men would realise that there's no shame in admitting to themselves, that they're struggling to cope & they need help.

My heart is breaking for Ricky, the Hatton family & those who knew & worshipped him for the supreme pugilist & massive Manchester City fan he was. )(

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Like many on here I saw Ricky fight. Like many on here I met him at matches. The reason so many on here met him was because he was one of us. A City fan through and through. I remember watching his dad play for City reserves. I met his son Campbell at a match. They are two of the people I most feel for, along with the rest of his family.
Through the period of City being rubbish, Ricky and Oasis were our shining light, standing up for us when we were ridiculed. Ricky was more than just a boxer. He was someone admired throughout the sporting world. He was our hero.
Now, like many on here I am heartbroken.

Rest in eternal peace Ricky.
 
johnnytapia said:
The Magee fight was the best fight I’ve seen live. Magee trained for that fight by having people hit him on the stomach with a scaffolding pipe to try and replicate Hatton’s murderous body shots.
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You should read Magees book. Apparently in the run up to the fight, paramilitaries had to threaten him to stop him going to pubs.
 
Marlo said:
You should read Magees book. Apparently in the run up to the fight, paramilitaries had to threaten him to stop him going to pubs.
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Few yrs after the fight wasn't he pulled from his car at some traffic light and had his knees smashed with baseball bats in Northern Ireland? I'm not saying that was anything to do with the fight, just saying Magee seemed quite a character.
Would love to read his book
 
Only really met him properly once.
My mate Nil was always namedropping him but I took it with a pinch of salt.
Anyway met nil in Oneills at King's Cross before one of our finals.of course Ricky was there and what a gentleman!! We chatted away about Scottish boxers and a bit about Scottish football. He was constantly asked for autographs and never moaned or refused one.
I was surprised that a few of the young City fans dissed him slightly but Ricky just laughed it off.
Hopefully after yesterday those guys realise what a legend he was/is.
RIP
 
Marlo said:
You should read Magees book. Apparently in the run up to the fight, paramilitaries had to threaten him to stop him going to pubs.
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Just had a look at Magee's Wiki page - fucking hell!

n 1989, Magee was involved in a fight outside a restaurant and sustained a deep wound to his neck from which he almost died. On Halloween night 1992, known as the infamous "Night of The Long Knives", he was shot through his lower left leg by the Provisional Irish Republican Army(IRA) in a punishment attack for activities that might have brought attention from the British Army and threatened the security of the IRA. They originally intended to blow out his kneecap but his father pleaded that he be shot in the calf instead to keep his son's hope of becoming a world champion boxer alive. In 1994, Magee (who is a supporter of Celtic football club) was charged with affray after getting into a barroom brawl with a group of Rangers fans in a Belfast City Centre pub. In February 2004, Magee was attacked in the Blacks Road area of Belfast. He was pulled from his car and beaten, which broke two bones in one of his legs.
 
Haven't been on BM for a bit. Truly dejected when I found out about this yesterday and still am today. I've had to hold back the tears on a few occasions.

Ricky was my hero growing up. A total gent and unquestionably one of Britain's finest boxers/sportsmen. Despite the outpouring of love I think he is still underappreciated in some circles. A unified world champion, a Ring champion, a two division world champion. A relentless come forward style that I don't think I've seen any other British fighter have. He could have probably dodged the likes of Mayweather and remained undefeated. Joe Cortez ruined that Mayweather fight by stopping him working on the inside. Two losses to possibly the two best fighters in that generation. I disregard his comeback fight loss to the Ukrainian after 2.5 years out, but even that bloke was a former world champion himself and Rick (despite his timing being all over the shop) was still ahead on points at the time of the stoppage.

During the miserable days of Utd cleaning up all before them we had Ricky and Oasis etc as validation of what we knew already. We were always the cooler club!

RIP Rick. Be at peace. You were/are loved by many.

XX
 
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