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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, December 30, 2016
Former World Champion Ricky Hatton battling with depression âŚ. tried to kill himself
EX-WORLD champion Ricky Hatton says he tried to kill himself on several occasions in a battle with depression. The Briton also talked about the need for boxers to get more help after retiring, when he appeared on BBC Radio 4âs Today show, guest-edited by Olympic boxing champion Nicola Adams. âI tried to kill myself several times,â said Hatton, 38, who retired in 2012. âI used to go to the pub, come back, take the knife out and sit there in the dark crying hysterically.â Manchesterâs Hatton, who previously spoke to the BBC in 2011 about attempted suicide and depression, won the world light-welterweight and welterweight titles. Hatton was stripped of his licence to box in 2010 after admitting using cocaine and retired the next year before fighting once more. He is now a promoter and trainer. He continued: âThere were
times when I hadnât had a drink for days and Iâd still come home and if something went through my mind Iâd start pondering something. It was the same outcome whether I was having a drink or wasnât having a drink. âBut in the end I thought Iâll end up drinking myself to death because I was so miserable. âI was coming off the rails with my drinking and that led to drugs. It was like a runaway train. âMore should be done to help boxers.â RICKY HATTONâS CAREER Born Stockport, October 6, 1978 Turns pro in 1997 21 fights unbeaten and becomes British light-welterweight champion in 2000. Wins WBU light-welterweight title in 2001. Stops IBF light-welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu in Manchester in 2005.
Points-victory over Luis Collazo in 2006 sees him become WBA welterweight champion. Awarded an MBE but loses first fight, knocked out by Floyd Mayweather Jr in December 2007. Beats Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi in 2008 but knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in May 2009. Retires in July 2011. Fights once more - against Vyacheslav Senchenko - in November 2012, but loses and retires again. Former world champion Barry McGuigan told BBC Radio 5 live in October that boxing authorities should fund a new foundation to help fighters with mental health issues. And Hatton feels âmore should be done for boxersâ with depression, with exworld champions Tyson Fury and Frank Bruno among other Britons to have suffered with the illness. âFootballers have an agent who looks out for them and a
Ricky Hatton was knocked out by Floyd Mayweather Jr. football club that gets behind them. The Football Association and the Professional Footballersâ Association (PFA) can also be there,â added Hatton. âWhereas boxers, itâs like once your time has gone itâs âon your wayâ and move on to the next champion coming through. âThe thing is with boxers, we donât come from Cambridge and places like that. We come from council estates. So in boxing itâs very, very hard. If boxing had a professional boxing association or something like that, I think it would be a better place.
âIt seems to be happening more with boxers. Itâs 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.â WHAT FURY SAID WAS HEARTBREAKING Fury vacated his WBO and WBA world heavyweight titles in October to deal with his âmedical treatment and recoveryâ. The Briton, 28, admitted taking cocaine to deal with depression and has not fought since beating Wladimir Klitsc-
hko in November 2015. Hatton said he contacted Fury to see if he was all right but said he never got a reply. âTyson is a very complex person. When he said what he said it was heartbreaking,â added Hatton. âTo think Tyson had become the heavyweight champion of the world and should kick on with his life and his career and for it to go pearshaped was a real crying shame. âHaving said that, he doesnât help himself in some interviews. If he is in a bad place and is depressed, I hope heâs speaking to the right people in order to sort it out. âAs boxers we donât do that. We think, âIâm Ricky Hatton or Iâm Tyson Fury, I can take on the worldâ. You can take on the world in the ring but this problem called depression, you canât take it on. âWeâre 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 thatâs why Iâm here today.â
Gillespie named Langerâs assistant for Sri Lanka T20s JASON GILLESPIE will join Justin Langer as Australiaâs interim coaching duo to oversee the three Twenty20 internationals against Sri Lanka that conflict with preparations for the Test tour of India. Langer (Perth Scorchers) and Gillespie (Adelaide Strikers) are both coaches in the Big Bash League, and the team performance manager Pat Howard said he was hopeful they would duly be able to take a strong T20 mindset into the job while Darren Lehmann and David Saker are minding the Test side in the UAE and India. âJason has significant experience as a coach around the world and with his skillset, we believe he and Justin
will work well together,â Howard said. âWith Jasonâs appointment alongside Justin, it means that not only will we have two terrific home-grown coaches to oversee the side
Jason Gillespie
but also that we have two individuals who will be coming off the sharp end of the BBL season. âIt means theyâll be immersed in the T20 format
ahead of the series which will hopefully help them to help us hit the ground running when the action gets underway.â Gillespie, who has been
a successful all-format coach of Yorkshire over the past five years, said he was particularly eager to work with Langer, a former Australia teammate. âFor me, the chance to be working with Justin Langer is terrific,â Gillespie said. âOf course heâs a friend and a former teammate, but heâs also someone whoâs had success in this form of the game and if I can learn anything from him and his approach then that would be great. âIâm there to support and hopefully play my part in achieving some positive results for us and that is something that is important because Australia havenât had the success any of us would like in T20 cricket. A series
like this is the ideal way for us to try and get better and refine our approach. âWith some players likely to be away in India it really will be a shop window for players from the BBL to showcase their skills, and to show the selectors and the Australian public what they can do. Itâs a chance for those selectors to see how, in the case of any new players, they deal with international cricket.â The three T20 matches are at the MCG on February 17, Kardinia Park in Geelong on February 19 and Adelaide Oval on February 22. The Adelaide match takes place the day before the start of the first Test in India. (Cricinfo)