veriton wrote: ↑17 Sep 2025, 12:24
Did make me think...he started out as a carpet fitter. If he hadn't been able to box then maybe he would have just been happy doing that for the rest of his life instead of topping himself now.
Boxing bent him out of shape and he was never able to get back together again.
Suicide and random acts of violence have been linked to head trauma.
Not saying that is the case here, but the instances are far higher than for those without the head trauma.
veriton wrote: ↑17 Sep 2025, 12:24
Did make me think...he started out as a carpet fitter. If he hadn't been able to box then maybe he would have just been happy doing that for the rest of his life instead of topping himself now.
Boxing bent him out of shape and he was never able to get back together again.
Suicide and random acts of violence have been linked to head trauma.
Not saying that is the case here, but the instances are far higher than for those without the head trauma.
Yeah I mentioned possible CTE a few posts back, I wouldn’t be surprised
I love British boxing and was a huge Hatton fan. So tragic. Over the summer I did a lot of reading about Randy Turpin and was saddened greatly by his story. Hatton's death hits me so hard because I followed him in real time.
veriton wrote: ↑17 Sep 2025, 12:24
Did make me think...he started out as a carpet fitter. If he hadn't been able to box then maybe he would have just been happy doing that for the rest of his life instead of topping himself now.
Boxing bent him out of shape and he was never able to get back together again.
Just in general in wonder what the ratio is of celebrity suicides to general population. Its got to be significantly higher.
I remember Robbie Williams saying the day he signed a 100m record deal was the most depressed he'd ever felt,
Hard to imagine isn't it, when we are all eagerly putting on the euro millions hoping it changes our lives. There's probably some ingredient which makes these folk brilliant (not necessarily Robbie Williams!) which also makes them so susceptible to equally awful thoughts.
veriton wrote: ↑17 Sep 2025, 12:24
Did make me think...he started out as a carpet fitter. If he hadn't been able to box then maybe he would have just been happy doing that for the rest of his life instead of topping himself now.
Boxing bent him out of shape and he was never able to get back together again.
Suicide and random acts of violence have been linked to head trauma.
Not saying that is the case here, but the instances are far higher than for those without the head trauma.
Yeah I mentioned possible CTE a few posts back, I wouldn’t be surprised
Don't think it's that.
I watched the Sky Doc 'Hatton' - as my little memorial to the great man - and it was so poignant.
Almost every word he said foreshadowed his sad end.
It would be good if the boxing trade could honour Ricky Hatton (I am sure it will). You could tell how proud he was (and rightly so) of his world titles and induction into the Hall of Fame.
Maybe create a belt or set up an annual Ricky Hatton boxing evening for up coming fighters - a chance to showcase young talent and the fighter of the night gets the Ricky Hatton belt.
I think it would be a lovely thing for his family and a good way of keeping him present, so that future generations know all about him and his achievements/contribution to boxing.
CaptainSpacerod wrote: ↑16 Sep 2025, 18:47
I’m with Coco on this.
Falling out with his family for a prolonged period, seemingly because his greedy, grasping opportunist father had cheated him out of a fortune, was undoubtedly a (the) major cause of him feeling worthless and suicidal.
If you’ll steal money from your son while he’s alive who’s to say you won’t do the same thing with his estate. A leopard never changes its spots.
What a vile man Ray is….. stealing off your own son and destroying the family…. Sickening
Watched the ringside special with Ricky,Johnny Nelson and Adam smith earlier. Really made me sad when he spoke of Billy Graham, looked like that still held a grey cloud over his head.
Feel for his family 46 is no age. If there is one positive to take at least Ricky is finally at peace
I don’t know about anyone else but I’ve felt like shit all week ever since hearing the news. It’s bizarre I feel like I’ve lost a relative & I’ve never met the guy.
I used to think people were being a bit pathetic when I’d see them crying on the tele at the death of a complete stranger like a Royal Family member who they liked but I get it now.
It’s just so tragic, I can’t even get my head around it.
Matthew’s post was interesting. He talked about how he lived his life in a constant rush & I suppose that was his coping mechanism. If you never sit still & are surrounded by people then you don’t stop to think about what’s going off in your head.
I followed him on instagram & he was doing something all the time. He was with the kids, he was training fighters, he was at a City match, he was in the pub, he was at a big fight, he was in Tenerife, he was after dinner speaking etc.
Tenerife’s lost an adopted son. I go to Las Americas quite a bit & it feels like his photo’s on the wall of every pub out there. He was just in cheap & cheerful pubs with plastic chairs. Nothing fancy. It made me laugh when he was seeing the actress from Coronation Street & he took her to a sports bar in Las Americas to watch the City match. She was all dolled up & he was sat in his City shirt surrounded by Brits with their belly’s out having a pint & watching the match. The phrase man of the people never suited anyone better than Ricky Hatton.
Maybe that's it a force. If Hatton was going home to an empty house, he must have felt very lonely in contrast to the life he had in public because he would have had fans wherever he went. So that inner sanctuary probably was the worst place for him especially if he was drinking alone.
As sad as I do feel for Hatton though, the public murder of Charlie Kirk has hit me harder. Hatton decided that's how he wanted to go whereas poor old Charlie had it all snatched away.
Just listened to the Bunce legacy tribute pod, I get we're all cut up by this but him and Ant Crolla saying Hatton was loved because he never ducked anyone is just outright nonsense. He swerved Witter and everyone knows it. If you dont want to bring up uncomfortable facts during this type of show, fair enough, but dont make up things to rewrite history either. Its not like everyone immediately forgot all of this the moment he died.
veriton wrote: ↑19 Sep 2025, 00:15
Maybe that's it a force. If Hatton was going home to an empty house, he must have felt very lonely in contrast to the life he had in public because he would have had fans wherever he went. So that inner sanctuary probably was the worst place for him especially if he was drinking alone.
As sad as I do feel for Hatton though, the public murder of Charlie Kirk has hit me harder. Hatton decided that's how he wanted to go whereas poor old Charlie had it all snatched away.
Just listened to the Bunce legacy tribute pod, I get we're all cut up by this but him and Ant Crolla saying Hatton was loved because he never ducked anyone is just outright nonsense. He swerved Witter and everyone knows it. If you dont want to bring up uncomfortable facts during this type of show, fair enough, but dont make up things to rewrite history either. Its not like everyone immediately forgot all of this the moment he died.
99% of people don't even remember Witter or had never heard of him in the first place,
I’d have to disagree there Mickey. Witter disrespectfully inserting himself into the Thaxton post-fight interview hardly went unnoticed. And neither did Witter’s continuing run of stoppage wins following an admirable points defeat to Judah on short notice.
Whether Hatton actively avoided the fight or not (I personally always thought Ricky would have backed himself to break Witter down), it would have been a big fight at one time.
Kilburn wrote: ↑19 Sep 2025, 03:22
I’d have to disagree there Mickey. Witter disrespectfully inserting himself into the Thaxton post-fight interview hardly went unnoticed. And neither did Witter’s continuing run of stoppage wins following an admirable points defeat to Judah on short notice.
Whether Hatton actively avoided the fight or not (I personally always thought Ricky would have backed himself to break Witter down), it would have been a big fight at one time.
Yes, it is funny how the US and UK tv companies saw the performance against Judah completely differently.
Never thought Hatton ducked Witter, but he probably felt the risk outweighed the reward. He could have sold out the Man City stadium fighting Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies. He didn’t really need Witter who would have added little to his stateside profile (was he considered in America any more of a threat than a Juan laszcano etc in America- at least with the casuals.
With Witter, the risk reward didn't add up, despite the fact Hatton would have been a heavy favourite.
Furthermore Sitter needed Hatton for the payday, and because Hatton didn't like him, and could earn the same money elsewhere, he was happy to leave Witter fighting in leisure centres
I think witter had the style to de rail the hatton machine so why risk it . Losing to mayweather and paccy . Well they were greats . But even then Ricky had an hard time getting over it. Idont think he even wated to chance a loss against Jnr
Kilburn wrote: ↑19 Sep 2025, 03:22
I’d have to disagree there Mickey. Witter disrespectfully inserting himself into the Thaxton post-fight interview hardly went unnoticed. And neither did Witter’s continuing run of stoppage wins following an admirable points defeat to Judah on short notice.
Whether Hatton actively avoided the fight or not (I personally always thought Ricky would have backed himself to break Witter down), it would have been a big fight at one time.
British boxing fans over a certain age certainly remember Witter. The general public? No chance.
veriton wrote: ↑19 Sep 2025, 00:15
Maybe that's it a force. If Hatton was going home to an empty house, he must have felt very lonely in contrast to the life he had in public because he would have had fans wherever he went. So that inner sanctuary probably was the worst place for him especially if he was drinking alone.
As sad as I do feel for Hatton though, the public murder of Charlie Kirk has hit me harder. Hatton decided that's how he wanted to go whereas poor old Charlie had it all snatched away.
Just listened to the Bunce legacy tribute pod, I get we're all cut up by this but him and Ant Crolla saying Hatton was loved because he never ducked anyone is just outright nonsense. He swerved Witter and everyone knows it. If you dont want to bring up uncomfortable facts during this type of show, fair enough, but dont make up things to rewrite history either. Its not like everyone immediately forgot all of this the moment he died.
To be honest I’d never heard of Charlie Kirk until he was killed so it didn’t really effect me at all apart from seeing a horrible video of it but I get it if you’re a fan of his.
I only really got into boxing properly in the mid 00’s so I wasn’t clued up on who was ducking who & who the best in the division was & who they should be fighting. I just loved everything about Hatton & became a big fan.
Kilburn wrote: ↑19 Sep 2025, 03:22
I’d have to disagree there Mickey. Witter disrespectfully inserting himself into the Thaxton post-fight interview hardly went unnoticed. And neither did Witter’s continuing run of stoppage wins following an admirable points defeat to Judah on short notice.
Whether Hatton actively avoided the fight or not (I personally always thought Ricky would have backed himself to break Witter down), it would have been a big fight at one time.
British boxing fans over a certain age certainly remember Witter. The general public? No chance.
Over a certain age , you would of not been a proper fan of british boxing if you did'nt know him ,, Good boxer was Jnr
He absolutely ducked Witter, no question. But Witter went on to win his world title and it was the WBC 140 pound belt which was highly prestigous. Where I thought the fight would happen would be after Hatton lost to Mayweather. I never thought Hatton had a prayer there. Fighting Lazcano at that point when Witter was WBC champ at 140 was one of the worst instances of ducking that you'll see in a British ring. He was done by Pac then and by that point Witter had lost to Bradley also. If Witter had beaten Bradley then Hatton would have probably been forced to fight him as his only way back to a world title. Witter lost to Devon Alexander for the WBC belt three months after Hatton was KO'd by Pac. That was the final chance to make the fight because Hatton would have had a world title shot there to get himself up for.
Even though Hatton ducked him, I think Witter would have been seriously negative in the fight and probably lost on points. I used to think Witter would have beaten him but I think the most likely outcome was Hatton outworking him. Hatton would be in danger of getting sparked though no question. There is also a chance Witter could have befuddled him and won a decision himself. But I'd favour Hatton.
You have to realise, if he fought and lost to Witter, there goes the huge Mayweather vegas payday and platform. Same again if he had fought Witter instead of Lazcano. Lazcano was an easy fight and even there Hatton was hurt in the final round I believe.
It was one of the things that stopped me from warming to Hatton. The ducking of Witter was just so blatant.
TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑19 Sep 2025, 05:53
He absolutely ducked Witter, no question. But Witter went on to win his world title and it was the WBC 140 pound belt which was highly prestigous. Where I thought the fight would happen would be after Hatton lost to Mayweather. I never thought Hatton had a prayer there. Fighting Lazcano at that point when Witter was WBC champ at 140 was one of the worst instances of ducking that you'll see in a British ring. He was done by Pac then and by that point Witter had lost to Bradley also. If Witter had beaten Bradley then Hatton would have probably been forced to fight him as his only way back to a world title. Witter lost to Devon Alexander for the WBC belt three months after Hatton was KO'd by Pac. That was the final chance to make the fight because Hatton would have had a world title shot there to get himself up for.
Even though Hatton ducked him, I think Witter would have been seriously negative in the fight and probably lost on points. I used to think Witter would have beaten him but I think the most likely outcome was Hatton outworking him. Hatton would be in danger of getting sparked though no question. There is also a chance Witter could have befuddled him and won a decision himself. But I'd favour Hatton.
You have to realise, if he fought and lost to Witter, there goes the huge Mayweather vegas payday and platform. Same again if he had fought Witter instead of Lazcano. Lazcano was an easy fight and even there Hatton was hurt in the final round I believe.
It was one of the things that stopped me from warming to Hatton. The ducking of Witter was just so blatant.
I think British fighters ducking each other is almost some sorta long term career strategy. Like once you get to a certain level you can compete against the World Ranked guys, but often only for so long before you hit the wall, or are just found out to be not at that level.
Then once that's become clear that you're not a World Championship level fighter, maybe you still have interest in the U.K. with your local rivalries, and it's the last big fight available for your career anywhere in the world.
Brook and Khan held off until the last possible moment to fight each other too.
