Top 137 Quotes & Sayings by Ricky Hatton
Explore popular quotes and sayings by a British athlete Ricky Hatton.
Last updated on September 18, 2024.
The thing is with boxers we don't come from Cambridge and places like that, we come from council estates. So in boxing it's very, very hard.
It got to a point where I didn't care if I lived or I died.
I was getting depressed, I was going out, having a few drinks and the worst thing you can do with depression is add alcohol to it.
People say nice things about me but they don't know what's been going on between my ears.
It's an individual sport so you get in the ring on your own and then when you retire you tend to spend the rest of your life on your own.
Ultimately when I fell out with my parents, I hit rock bottom. I didn't care whether I lived or died to be honest with you.
Growing up in a pub taught me a lot about life.
I've fought at such a high level I couldn't have people look at me and say, 'well, he's just fought someone to knock them over.'
They say 'you've over trained, you've left it in the gym' is the most common phrase used in boxing but my god it is the truest.
I feel happier about things, I don't blame myself over the losses.
We're out of our comfort zones with depression. I certainly was and whenever I have bad days now I speak to someone to get it off my chest.
If I'm going to end my career, I want to end my career at the top.
It makes me very, very happy to get someone a world title shot, which I've done with a few fighters, or a European title shot or a British title, and I see them lift that belt above their waist and they come to me and say 'Thanks Ricky. I've just paid my mortgage off with that.' That's what its all about.
I want people to look at me as a four-time world champion, in two weight categories, as a down-to-earth man of the people, not the joke that I had become.
I could come in the gym to train with the boys and they'd think I was alright, but I'd go home and sit there crying.
The high of victory in the ring was bigger than the biggest party. You'd get in the ring and hear thousands of fans chanting your name and I'd be giving it all back for them.
My passion is promoting and training.
My style appealed to people. That's why I had the fanbase.
I want to go down as a champion who redeemed himself, made up for letting everyone down and regained his self-respect.
Depression is a very serious thing. People don't realise how deadly it can be.
Before I turned professional I used to do carpet fitting for my dad. I wasn't much good, it's a miracle I've still got 10 fingers.
I like to think I know my boxing.
If, and when, I do eventually decide to retire, the announcement will be made by myself. I feel that I have earned the right to do it myself.
I've always been the local lad, boy done well, kid next door.
I don't mind getting beaten by Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr and people like that, but I'd hate to go into a training camp with my heart not fully in it and risk getting beaten by somebody who shouldn't be beating me.
I was fortunate enough to fight at Madison Square Garden, Vegas and the City of Manchester Stadium.
I'm known for my strength and it helped that from a young age I was carrying around crates of beer or carpets and heavy rolls of underlay.
No. 1 career highlight? It would have to be getting the MBE from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
I always loved training to get fit, make all those sacrifices that you do, but it just wasn't there after Pacquiao.
I want my kids to be proud of me.
If boxing had a professional boxing association or something like that, I think it would be a better place.
I'd go into the pub and start crying even before I'd had my first drink.
Depression is a serious thing and, after my defeat to Pacquiao, I was facing retirement and didn't cope with it very well.
Life has kicked me hard, hasn't it? Some of it's my fault, some of it's not my fault.
Everyone knows my story and lots of people have been disappointed in my deterioration as a man. But they can see I'm trying to get better.
Would I change anything? I don't know, that's a double edge sword for me.
We think, 'I'm Ricky Hatton or I'm Tyson Fury, I can take on the world.' You can take on the world in the ring but this problem called depression, you can't take it on.
I feel I let everyone British sport, British boxing, my community, my home town of Manchester, my family my kids, I feel I've let everyone down with the troubles I've been in.
When I got successful and people started talking about me, I didn't want anyone thinking I thought I was a 'big time Charlie.'
It doesn't matter how many people say 'well, everyone makes mistakes Ricky, you've had a great career you should be proud of yourself' but that doesn't mean much compared to what goes on between my ears.
People say maybe I could have got better performances out of myself or I could have a got few more fights out of myself if I looked after my body a little bit more but at the end of the day it was because I was jack the lad.
We all have to grow up some time.
I went to the darts, went to the football, had a little pint, no airs and graces. I think that's why I had the fan base I had.
I was always very depressed, even when I was a youngster.
First time I had my defeat, it was very hard to come to terms with.
It's a hard game, boxing. You're up every morning running every day, you train in the afternoon, you're dieting, you're up and down in weight and it can wear you down.
I don't want to be fighting at four or six-round levels - I want to fight for world titles.
I had an exciting style, I was very aggressive, a body puncher, and I attacked all the time.
Once I got beat by Mayweather I felt so ashamed. I cancelled all my functions, all my appearances, I didn't want to walk down the street. I was too embarrassed to even go and have a pint with my mates.
The manner of my defeat against Mayweather and certainly Manny Pacquiao was a bitter pill to swallow.
It doesn't matter how many people say 'don't be hard on yourself,' I feel like I have to redeem myself to my fans, my family and the whole of British sport.
As I went into my role as a trainer I had to get more professional as people were putting their livelihood in my hands.
My mum and dad had four pubs when we were growing up, but the main one was the New Inn in Hattersley, on the estate. It was a very good pub.
Boxing has been very, very good to me.
Everything I've done in my career has been for nothing.
People say, 'We remember the good times.' Well I remember the bad times.
Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to think: 'Blimey, Ricky, get a grip.'
Life kicks you hard but you have to be a man to come back.
He's a very, very clever fighter, Manny, but you'd have to say the cleverest fighter in boxing is Mayweather. He adapts his style against whatever opponent he faces.
People with success are less able to cope because you're used to being on Mount Everest and when it's gone, what do you do?
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