Top 55 Ricky Hatton Quotes

Fame has never been high on my agenda.

I always loved training to get fit, make all those sacrifices that you do, but it just wasn’t there after Pacquiao.

I know how hard it is to come back from a brutal KO.

Everything I’ve done in my career has been for nothing.

My second pro fight was at Madison Square Garden, on the undercard of Naseem Hamed’s fight against Kevin Kelley.

Jose Mourinho is the Floyd Mayweather Jr of football management. You either love him or hate him.

Growing up in a pub taught me a lot about life.

We all have to grow up some time.

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.

My game was all about strength and mauling opponents.

You know if you want to be a boxer the first time you get hit on the nose.

I’ve always been the local lad, boy done well, kid next door.

I’m not going to say I was Britain’s greatest ever world champion. I think Joe Calzaghe was the best – although I think I fought a lot better fighters.

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.

Boxing has been very, very good to me.

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.

The manner of my defeat against Mayweather and certainly Manny Pacquiao was a bitter pill to swallow.

I’m very fortunate. I’ve looked after my money and I’m happy with where my career is at as a trainer and a promoter.

Everyone wants to be a world champion, but when you take that first punch it will tell you if you really want to be in this sport or not. For me, there was no doubt.

I will always wonder what might have been if I had faced Manny Pacquiao at my best. But there is no doubt in my mind that the Pacman will still go down as one of boxing’s all-time greats.

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.

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.

Depression is a very serious thing. People don’t realise how deadly it can be.

I was fortunate enough to fight at Madison Square Garden, Vegas and the City of Manchester Stadium.

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.

I don’t want to go on forever and leaving the sport is the hardest decision.

First time I had my defeat, it was very hard to come to terms with.

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.

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 feel happier about things, I don’t blame myself over the losses.

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.

Life kicks you hard but you have to be a man to come back.

Winning the world title was my goal as a kid, but being the pound-for-pound champion would be the ultimate.

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.

I like to think I know my boxing.

Having been a world champion, I would love to go on and train a world champion too.

Right from the beginning I wanted to test myself against the best, against real champions.

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.

Kostya Tszyu was the best payday of my career to that point, even though I thought it should have been better.

Boxers don’t tend to come from Cambridge or Oxford. Sometimes the things we say don’t come out well. We are not known for our vocabulary.

I can remember how I felt the first time I was knocked out by Floyd Mayweather Jr. My first fight afterwards was against Juan Lazcano at the City of Manchester Stadium. Every time I got punched I felt like I would wobble.

Mayweather was my first professional defeat and I took it really, really hard.

I’ve never been a red carpet hugger unless it is for charity.

When I stepped up a division I can remember suffering the worst fatigue I had ever felt. I noticed it massively.

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’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.

We are very proud of our roots in Manchester. We like to back our own.

I’d go into the pub and start crying even before I’d had my first drink.

Pacquiao has been stopped a ‘couple of times by body shots and has been knocked out and I don’t think there’s anything you can do to improve your ribs or chin.

If I’m going to end my career, I want to end my career at the top.

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.

For all the success, I never acted any differently. I’ve always done the same things and I can honestly say I’ve not changed in the slightest. Sometimes that’s the problem.

I wouldn’t say Floyd Mayweather Jr is running scared of Amir Khan. Floyd doesn’t need to run from anybody. Look at the names he has beaten during his career and it is an impressive list.

My style appealed to people. That’s why I had the fanbase.

Sir Alex Ferguson sent me a letter wishing me good luck before my fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. He also sent me a United shirt, signed by all of the players. It was a really nice touch and typical of the man who has always made himself available to managers in this country whenever they’ve needed advice.