Ricky Hatton wants help for former professional boxers
Thursday 29 December 2016 18:13, UK
Ricky Hatton believes more should be done to help professional boxers when they retire from the ring.
The former two-weight world champion tried to kill himself several times during his battle with depression after hanging up his gloves.
Hatton enjoyed the highs of successful career which saw him face ring legends Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in front of his army of fans in Las Vegas.
However, the Mancunian struggled to cope following his defeat to Pacquiao in 2009 and retired after an ill-fated comeback in 2012.
"I think more should be done for boxers," Hatton told BBC radio.
"Footballers have an agent that looks out for them and a football club that gets behind them, the FA and the players' football association (PFA) can also be there.
"Whereas boxers it's like once your time has gone it's 'on your way' and move on to the next champion coming through.
"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. If boxing had a professional boxing association or something like that, I think it would be a better place.
"It seems to be happening more with boxers. 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."
Frank Bruno is among the many boxers to have suffered from depression, while fellow former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury opened up about his battle with the illness in October after relinquishing his titles.
"I hope he's speaking to the right people in order to sort it out," added Hatton.
"As boxers we don't do that. 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.
"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.
"I have no shame telling that and that's why I'm here today."
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