- LONDON: Former light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton says he slipped into depression and considered suicide while trying to come to grips with his loss to Manny Pacquiao in May 2009.
The 32-year-old Hatton says his slip into drugs and alcohol worsened following the second-round loss to the Filipino boxer in Las Vegas.
Hatton told BBC radio the loss brought on thoughts of retirement and “I didn’t cope with it very well ... I was so down, I was crying and breaking out and contemplating suicide.”
Hatton says he experienced blackouts as he went on daylong drinking binges with depression engulfing him. He battled “to come to terms with” the defeat and his career winding down.
Hatton retired in July and now has a promoting business.
