Boxer Ricky Hatton - Mayweather, Drugs & Depression

0:00This podcast features Ricky Hatton and James English.

0:30Enjoying myself, yeah. Never been happier. You're looking well. You're looking great, in fact. New fight coming up, new challenge. So that's what it's all about. It was 2nd of July, the fight? 2nd of July, yeah. At my second home, Manchester Arena. I had that many fights there. I didn't know back in the day that I could have probably moved my bed in there, to be honest, at one point. But no, I enjoyed it. You know, I was approached. You know, there was one exhibition done. The first one was done a few years ago now, before lockdown, I think, with Roy Jones and Mike Tyson. And after that, obviously the obvious question was, if that come about, would you do it, Ricky?

1:06And that was a few years ago. And I said, yeah, yeah. I said, you know, if it was the right fight and the right people put the right show on, I said, yeah, I'd be up for that. And then I got the phone call about, you know, five months ago saying, would you like to have one last move around? COVID's been a terrible time for everyone. You know what I mean? Everyone with mental health, people have had COVID. would you like to do one last dance at the Manchester Arena if you like you know against Marco Antonio Barrera and I thought well I mean I've lost people to Covid like I'm sure we all have and I've lost friends to mental health during the Covid I've lost family to mental health during the Covid and they said well we can do it as like a concert type thing as like a celebration of coming out of it so I didn't have to think twice yeah How are you feeling about fighting Barrera?

1:54I'm looking I can't wait because he's he's been a friend of mine for forever and a day and we all know how good a champion he was and a fighter he was but I think I'm going to get the even though he's my friend I'm going to get the benefit of finding out you know first hand just how good he actually he actually was and I like the fact that because we are friends even though it's an exhibition and it'll be competitive because I mean I'm not having him come to Manchester and make me look an idiot and I think he won't want to come to Manchester and me do the same so that's where the competitive comes in but I think because we've made some friends and that we'll know when to push it and there'll be no liberties taken and I think that's a good thing because I think when your heroes make a comeback we always worry about them getting knocked out and getting hurt and my best days are behind me but bigger gloves you know less rounds shorter rounds against somebody that I know I think there's nothing negative that can come out of this I really can't wait where do people get the tickets Ricky?

2:59they can get them on hattonberrera.com you know on the internet it's going to be it's going to be not like a traditional boxing show they've got live music acts on you know so they'll have a live music act on and then you know a fight will come on then they'll have a DJ come on and then they'll have I think there's two UFC Hall of Famers fighting each other and then they'll have another singer on and then it's more of a more party it's a laugh more of a celebration coming out of Colview because I mean it has been a very very tough time so I think it's more of a party theme to it rather than a standout boxing show so it's going to be good yeah good man looking forward to it always go back to the start of my guess Ricky where you grew up and how it all began I was born on the council estate just outside of Manchester Hattersley which incidentally is only 10 minutes down the road from from where i live i've always been homegrown lad and never really as well as i did i don't never really want to move you know too far afield and um the council estate wasn't and known for too many good things to be honest with you there was the moore's murderers you know years years ago mara hindley and leon brady and then the um howell shipman's 10 minutes down the down the road his surgery was 10 minutes down the road and them two police officers the two The lady police officers got shot here a few years back.

4:23So it's from an area that has had too much to sing about in the last few years. But I'd like to think when they mention Hattiesley, they might mention a little fat boxer called Ricky Hatton that brought a bit of good back to the area. But I consider myself a Hattiesley lad. I always run Manchester, which is where I am from. But ultimately, I'm a Hattiesley lad. and I've never forgot my roots and I still go down. I have the same mates from school that I always had. I lived 10 minutes down the road from where I was born and I think that's why people like me, I think, you know, not just because of my boxing, but because of the other, what I've managed to keep my own, keep my feet on the ground a bit.

5:04What were you like at school, Ricky? Terrible. Absolutely terrible. But some of the teachers, some of the old teachers, I still see them knocking about the estate and like that. And they always say, Ricky, you know, you were never no trouble at school. You never got involved in a fight. You never got involved in anything. You just didn't do anything. You know what I mean? It just, and I was, the attitude I had at the time, the teacher used to say to me, you know, listen, you've got to do this. Do your homework. Where's your homework? Concentrate, you know, work hard. And I used to, I'm going to be a boxer.

5:36I'm going to be a boxer. And now I'm a father and a grandfather. I won't be passing that same advice on to me, to the kids. You know what I mean? because you've got to have, you know, if I hadn't had done well at the boxing, I'd have been in big trouble. But I always believed I was going to be a boxer from my young age, but no, I wasn't very good at school. Never a troublemaker, but just bone idle. What was the first age you put on your gloves? When I actually did kickboxing when I was about eight years old, I think. I was into the, as a youngster, I was into the Bruce Lee films. and as I started watching the Bruce Lee's films I said to my dad I'd like to go try karate or kickboxing or something like that so I went down to the local kickboxing club and it basically started from there and I've always been a little short and stocky type so I was good with my fists but when we'd been short not too good with my feet so as I was trying to get close with my fists to do my damage I'd do what I was good at was getting my teeth kicked in basically because of the distance I was going to write height and reach and I couldn't get near them because we were kicking and they said why don't you go and try boxing Ricky it might be a little bit more suited to you so I went over the road to the boxing gym in Hyde and it started from there Did you fall in love with boxing straight away or were you always was you wary of it?

7:03Well I did love boxing straight away I mean when I was kickboxing the first time I think with kickboxing or most certainly boxing the first time you get hit on the nose you either go whoa that's not for me oh i like that and funny enough i liked it you know the first time i got cracked on the nose i was like you know oh the first time i had a bad spa where somebody had outboxed me or pipped me off you know what i mean i'd i'd come home proper pissed off and i'd be like you know can't wait to get back to training on friday can't wait to get back to training on friday i'm gonna put that right i'm gonna put this right i'll show him i'm gonna show him on friday again and that was that's i I think that's the attitude I think all boxers need to have from a very young age.

7:45You know, I didn't think, oh, that hurt. I think I'm going to go back and I'm going to get it right and I'm going to make sure I sort that kid I sparred out with. I'm going to sort him out on Friday, you know. And I think it's quite simple. Boxing, you either love it or you hate it. Let's have it right. I mean, to do something for a living where you get punched in the face, there's got to be something wrong with you. but I think that's I think most fighters would probably say that you have a tattoo you don't and it's a very addictive sport really you know because I mean when you work hard you train hard and then when you get your victory you share it you get all that it sounds a bit selfish but you get all that praise on your own you don't share it with 10 teammates or a manager and everything like that you know I mean it's you know you get your hand raised and it's you in that ring on your own and it's such a wonderful feeling and I think that's why which I think we'll get to in a bit further down the line I struggled with retirement you know having that feeling once it's gone once you've experienced it and it's gone it's very very hard to move on Did you have any fighters in your family?

8:48My brother Matthew he went professional he didn't unlike me he didn't have a very successful amateur career he didn't have a handful of fights but he saw how well I was doing and he thought you know I'm carpet fitting I'm on my hands and knees all day you know getting paid you know just a few quid anything like that I might as well give it a go doing something that I love and he turned professional he lost a couple of six rounders along the way I think he got disqualified in an eight rounder but he stayed at it stayed at it and he became the European champion I think he made about four defences and he actually went the distance with if off the world title went the distance with Canelo Alvarez which was the number one he was until recently he's recently one of the best pound for pound number one pound for pound fighter in the world so he did well Matthew in his own right when he really wasn't expected to he ain't professional as well look at Ricky Atten's brother here but he didn't he made his own name in his own right and I think some great fighters there not many went from in the distance with Saul Alvarez did they so that speaks volumes so what Matthew achieved in the game do you think there was a lot of pressure on Matthew to succeed because of your success yeah very much so you know what I mean because I mean you always get the the finger point, he won't be as good as his brother and he's always just trying to follow in his brother's footsteps or jump on the bandwagon.

10:11Campbell's in the same position. And just like my son Campbell, who's gone professional, just like Matthew was in the same position with a lot of pressure and pressure on his shoulders and a lot of people pointing the finger, ultimately he did the business, didn't he? and me and Matthew firmly believe Campbell will do the same given time obviously. What was your first fight like Ricky? My first fight my first amateur fight was as you can imagine pretty brutal you know toe to toe I thought a guy called Danny Reynolds from Leeds who I did fight further down the line about four years after but yeah it was a very very close close fight majority decision split decision but it was an absolute war and I think that was from the start you know we just went toe to toe like two professionals you know like we would see in a professional fight not an amateur fight and I think right away people could see me talent but see that was probably more suited to the professional side of the game rather than me because I used to come out I used to slip and roll and throw body punches and that was from 11 years of age so I think the right I mean not the way on the wall the signs were there from day one and you just loved it from that moment getting hit and the bloody noses loved it it's not just you know they're getting hit when you get hit you either love it or you don't and then you decide to you know it's not for me I've had loads of friends that did give it a try they said first time I got hit they thought oh no chance but you know I think most fighters would say that they've gone on to do the boxing they've said they loved it but yeah it's the training I think most people I think certainly when you're an amateur boxer I think whether you have one fight or 101 fights I think so many people have become better people because they've had a go at it because it's that type of sport isn't it you know there's how many delinquents or people or you know kids or youngsters going down the wrong the wrong path I've got into boxing gone in the gym they've learnt the discipline and the respect and you know and the fitness and conditioning and that side of the boxing game and they might not have gone on and become a world champion because we all want to produce world champions but in amateur boxing it's I think once you've had a goal and gone in the ring and gone in the boxing gym and sparred and got used to the boxing what comes with the boxing I think I think you end up making sure you're a better person Who did you look up to when you were a kid as a boxer?

12:54Who did I look up to? Did anybody you want? I used to like Nigel Benn. When I first started getting into boxing, Nigel Benn was like Chris Eubank. I was about 15 years of age. I used to watch Nigel on the TV. He's dead aggressive, dead ferocious, went for the knockout, no nonsense. I saw myself as a youngster. I was a bit of an idiot. Not an idiot, Nigel, sorry. I was a bit of a no-ho's-barred, never-say-die, dead aggressive. I was like that as an amateur. and I thought, oh my God, it's me, do you know what I mean? It was like, but not only was it me, but I thought, look what he's done, world champion, look at the size of the crowds, and look at his nice car, and look at this, and look at that, oh, I want to be like Nigel.

13:41Style-wise, we were right up each other's street, but obviously that's why I wanted to be what he was, a world champion. But then as I got into the boxing more, through watching Nigel, I started becoming a bit more of a student, where I'd get the old videos out, where I'd watch the champions of yesterday's and the old fighters. And my favourite fighter of all time then became Roberto Duran. He became my greatest fighter. Nigel got me into boxing, who's my favourite, you know, as I got in. And then when I got into it, I started studying the sport a bit more. I fell in love with Roberto Duran, his style, his attitude, what he did for his people.

14:20Just the whole shebang. and I think there's a little bit of similarities. It's like, you know, I'm all for me people. You never see me. I'm always banging the drum for Manchester. I'm always thanking me fans and like that. And there's a little bit of me, there's a little bit of, that's what Duran was like to the Panama people. What age did you turn professional, Ricky? 18. Why so young? I just, I didn't, I think I boxed in the World Juniors and I got a bronze medal. So I think I would have been picked for the Olympics because I'd obviously, well, because I got my bronze medal in the World Juniors, I think I would have been picked for the Olympics, but the Olympics was 12 months after Boxing the World Juniors.

15:01I was 17. Boxing the World Juniors and then the Olympics come up and then as soon as the Olympics were three months after, I became 18. So for me, if I wanted to go to the Olympics, I'd have had to wait four years to the next Olympics, you know. So I thought, I don't want to wait four years to go to the Olympics. I thought, you know, I'll turn professional. And to be honest with you, I was training with the professionals from 16 years of age. I was going down the Brian Hughes gym in Collier's, Brian Hughes, Collier's the Moston gym, training with Brian Hughes and Pat Barrett. And then I went up to Billy Graham's Phoenix Camp in Salford where I was training with world champion Kyle Thompson, Enzi Bingham, Steve the Viking, Foster, all the present champions.

15:48and I was training with them from a 16 year old when I left school and stuff like that so I always so I always I always pretty much I think I wanted to be a professional as I mentioned earlier with watching Nigel and looking up to Nigel Ben on the TV and then going training with the pros even though I was still an amateur I think I was always going to go professional anyway So what was your first professional like your fight like that kid? first professional fight it was uh needless to say i couldn't wait i always dreamt of becoming a professional um fighter um and yeah i mean i was obviously nervous for it but not as nervous as what you probably think because i was there's one thing i always had now when people think of ricky attenham they'll probably think of not not you know not an arrogant person a down-to-earth feet on the ground you know doesn't slag an opponent off not a big mouth or anything like that which is very rare in boxing certainly these days but um no but i but my my best attribute was my self-belief and how you know i'm confident in my own ability so even though i was nervous when we pulled that bureau it was like i can't bring it on i can't wait and i won first round knockout against kid mccarley uh witness leisure center 1997 a few years ago now that but uh no it was brilliant I mean I was working with the professional champions every day and it was hard as hard as a game boxing was it started off as my hobby you know what I mean and then eventually I'm getting now paid for doing my hobby so it sounds as it's the hardest game in the world boxing but I thought really blessed you know what I mean that was getting paid for doing something that I loved and going to the gym every day and training with British champions European champions world champions and learning and picking their brains and everything like that it was the start of my career when I went professional and it was happy times it was a dream happy times did you see the vision of how successful you would become or was that a steady process like as soon as you turned through did you know that you were going to be one of the greatest well I Billy Graham told me he said you know he said you're the best fighter I've ever worked with and Billy Graham was the trainer of world champions you know he did you know Cal Thompson Anthony Bingham Steve the Viking Foster Paul Burt was a Commonwealth champion.

18:10Andy Olligan fought for the world title. He did train champions. So when a trainer of champions says to you, you're the best I've ever trained, do you know what I mean? He says, and if you dedicate yourself and you work hard at the game and you tick all the other boxes, because don't forget, I was still a youngster. I still had boxes to tick. You had to prove your heart, your chin, your stamina, all these, you know, and that's pretty much in every sport, really. You can have the potential, but the potential is only the start. you've got to have the other things and the other aspects so but he said if you've got all them he said you know and all the other champions cow thompson was the world cruise weight champion he was in them brilliant fights for chris eubank if you remember at the manchester arena he was saying to me you're going to go all the way you and we're going to work hard with you and make sure you get you get there and all that and it was when people like that saying that to you you think gee i've got i must have half a chance here you know if i've got it if i can do it and and like I mentioned earlier having the self-belief in my own ability I pretty much I said when I was 18 I said I want to be a world champion and I said with my ability and what people are telling me if I don't I've failed so I've got to want it more and that was my attitude at 18 because you guys like yourself Chris Huebank Nigel Benn Steve Collins Joe Kozagi Prince Nazeem you were in many Prince Nazeem's undercard he was one of the greatest as well what was that feeling like obviously you're moving through the ranks he was brilliant Frank Warren I signed with Frank Warren at the time and he promoted Prince Nassim Hamad and he was the biggest name in British boxing I mean so as I mentioned earlier my professional debut was at Widdish Leisure Centre so he had to fight on the local shows you know on the Leisure Centre shows and stuff like that which was which is great learning experience and the next you know the couple of months after I'd be boxing at Madison Square Garden you know when Nassim Hamad boxed Kevin Kelly and now that now that's experience you've got to get experience to the local shows and the you know the small hall shows and you don't get bigger than Madison Square Garden so you can imagine for an 18 year old you know to be you know doing there and fighting here and fighting there and fighting there and Nassi Ahmed's undercard and I was able to see how you know what it's like when you're fighting a world title bill you know like the way in the build up the interviews and everything like that for me to you know just sit in the background and watch Naz and see how he prepared not just what he's going to do when he got in the ring just what comes with a world title fight it was a great experience for me to sit down and watch and learn What was he like to watch as a fighter?

20:45He was unbelievable Naz to be honest with you, he was what a power puncher the legs on him and the leverage he could get I loved watching Naz because he always went for the knockout he always watched her do damage and I don't think I'm an aggressive person, my character is aggressive, but as a boxer, I was a nasty little footer. I was a nasty little footer. I really wanted to hurt my opponents, not permanently, but when I was in that ring, I wanted to really hurt my opponents and Naz used to live for the knockout, big, massive, explosive knockout. So I absolutely loved Naz. Ironically, Naz, who's shown a box on the undercars, looked up to, but the gentleman that put pay to his career in the end was Marco Antonio Barrera, who I'm doing the exhibition with on the 2nd of July.

21:36So I hope he doesn't, Marco, don't do to Naz what you don't do to me, what you did to Naz. So how do you make that, for being the people's champion, everybody loves you and adores you, to then having that killer instinct in the ring, how do you make that switch? Just very easy. You know what I mean? What I was in the ring and what I was out of the ring was two different things. And I think there's a lot of people, I mean, we all have our own different personalities, but when that bell goes, you know, some people, you know, you've got to, you've got to, whatever you are as a person or whatever you are in the gym, you know, when you go to fight and, you know, your livelihood's on the line, you know what I mean?

22:17It's how we make our living, you know what I mean? It's how I provide for my kids and that. So when the bell, when I used to look at my opponent and think to myself, you're in the way of making a better life for myself. you're in the way you are taking literally taking money out of my kids mouths you and that's what I used to that's what I always used to think before the first bell goes so you can imagine I wanted to kill them not literally obviously but that's that's what I was like but then when I come out of the gym people like me because you know I go to the pub and have a pint I play for my local darts team do you know what I mean you know I still play for the vets on Sunday for my local pub on the estate there for the Sunday vets over 40s I still play for that and I'd go stand in the stand and watch Man City you know what I mean I'd be there with a bobble and a pie you know what I mean and people used to say well world champion do you look at Ricky yeah look at him you know and it's like but it was it wasn't people liked me because it wasn't an act they could see you know public you know I was no different no different to the people that come supporting me and I think I think they could see it and I think that's why they like me they're all listening local lad Ricky Attenham doing well feet on the floor he's a character and he'll laugh a minute look at him size of him the fat fucker you know what I mean let's go and watch him and there was that sort of like feel to it and obviously what I did when the bell went I'm sure people enjoyed as well but I think that's why people like me Was that to try and make yourself one of the boys as well one of the lads to be then obviously you've got the professionalism of being a fighter on the 8 weeks 10 weeks 12 week camp sometimes your camps or 14 weeks like see after a camp and after a victory is it just let loose and try and come back into a bit of normality yeah I mean that was half the problem I say to my fighters now and my son Campbell who's gone professional I say do as I say not as I do but when I was doing my six rounders I was coming up through the rankings I was in the gym all the time there's this reputation Ricky Fatten that I got for being a bit of living life on the wild side a little bit and everything like that.

24:29But when I was just coming through the ranks, I lived in the gym. I'd only have like an odd night, a night off, and then I'd be back in training. My first year, I had nine fights in 12 months. That's a fight every six weeks. So there wasn't no time to be unwinding. But it's when I got to world title level, where you have, say, three fights in a year where there's bigger gaps in between. that's when I could have maybe showed a little bit more discipline but I something something that always attracted me to go and see my mates and going to the pub and that because I have a little bit of um I do have a little bit of confidence believe it or not I have confidence in my own self-belief but I do have a lack a little bit of confidence in my own me own as a person and I used to think you know when I was boxing on Sky TV and I was boxing and people were seeing me and you know you know signing autographs and having pictures and everything like that and sometimes I'd go like months without seeing my mates weeks without seeing my mates and something in my head paranoia in the back of my head usually I hope they don't think I'm getting too big for my boots and too above my station I hope they don't think I forgot about them and I've changed I hope they don't think I've changed so I'd find myself nipping down and just nipping down at the pub to see him you know hey lads you okay and that's a that's a bit of um and i think that was the early signs of my mental health that's a bit of sign of weakness you know what i mean you know instead of getting on thinking oh my mate mate's that bothered they're loving what i'm doing they're proud of me in my own mind i used to think no no no i've got to go down there and see him i've got to go down there and see him and then um ultimately when i my first defeat came against floyd mayweather i felt like i'd let everyone down and can you can you see how that little thing in my mind, you know, something wasn't quite there, you know, my mates would go, don't worry about coming down and seeing us, we're proud of you, we love you Rick, we're proud of you, you know, Ricky, you got beat by Mayweather, no Rick, God blimey, it's Floyd Mayweather, what do you want?

26:23But in my mind, my head was falling off, you know, and that was the start of that side of my life, you know, the boxing was going great, but there was just a little fellow on my shoulder that was you know, I couldn't I couldn't get off, you know. Was our loneliness kicked in at times, Ricky? Not really. I think I was very, very, the family was very, very close at the time. We're very, very close now. But I mean, there was a period with my family where it went a little bit, you know, haywire. But no, I, you know, I used to have, you know, good friends that would come round. They had good family that would come round and see me.

27:00And then when I got in a relationship when my kids come along and everything like that, I was with my ex-partner for 12, 13 years. so no it wasn't it wasn't a loneliness no because I speak to a lot of successful people and it is a lonely journey to be successful but you obviously it's trying to find the balance like do you think that was a hindrance as well that it's not your people pleasing but to try and fit in with other people so they think you're not better than them instead of just 100 % focused on your journey to be the greatest of all time yeah that's what it was I mean and you know it shouldn't you know you've got to you've got to be really with your boxing career, you know, you've got to be really, or any career, you've got to be selfish.

27:42And you've got to think, listen, that's my job. I've got a job to do. You know, it doesn't matter, you know what I mean? You've got to concentrate on your job. And I always had one, I was always concentrating on my job, but I always had one, you know, one eye on, you know, I don't want people thinking this, I don't want people thinking this. Because it's not like go out into Manchester or into town or wherever we'd go and you'd hear, you know, people saying you know and my mates and people around you would say oh I've seen him and met him a few times what a dickhead he is oh what an honourable person he is oh absolutely you know and I think to myself these people saying it about me do you know what I mean you know do they think I'm arrogant do they think I'm cocky like that so it was like you know when I was world champion never walked to the front of a queue never you know never it's just I was always I was you'd think I was shy I was always life and soul of the party but you know when it comes to that you think I was shy it's because I was paranoid that I mean I would have won the belts if people thought what's the point of being the best in the world if everyone thinks you're the dickhead and you're walking down the street and everyone's thinking there's that what life's that even if you've got belts and money and what comes of it so and that was a big big part of mine certainly early on there was something still there that wasn't that wasn't doing me any favours what was it like winning your first world title?

29:08Well, the first world title was brilliant. I won, you know, to win any world title, you know, you can imagine it's such a, when you start off at the council estate, you dream of becoming a world champion, like we said earlier, Nigel Benn. And then to do it, it's, you know, and they say, and the new, like, world's weight champion of the world, it's a dream you never, ever wake up from. But, you know, I mean, once I won my world title, you know, I beat Tony Pep with a first round knockout. Tony Pepper, actually three fights before, had gone the distance with Floyd Mayweather Jr. So, I mean, just to win the belt and do it in the manner I did it, it was absolutely brilliant.

29:47You know, my first ever world title. And then you set yourself the goals. Now I've been a world champion, I want to stay a world champion and I want to win more world titles because there's, in boxing these days, there's four to five versions of the world titles. And I was thinking it was, now I've become a world champion. My next goal was to try and become the best in my weight division. out of all the champions if you like so obviously you've got the little the wires are kind of going about not realising the extent of like not the self-sabotage but trying to fit in and please your friends while trying to be a world champion like how then when you win the world title Ricky does the pressure come the limelight the fame the money I think were you not still staying with your parents I was still staying with my parents so I think that helped I think that helped a lot but then obviously as I started you know my money started increasing then you know and I was thinking to myself it's about time it's about time I moved out of the box room now I'm world champion you know I've got a few quid and I did and I moved and I only moved down the road in fact Matthew lives there now my brother in the same house that I used to live at and I was still like you know in the same town as my mum and dad so I could still go around there my mum would still do my diet my food for me you know I had it made you know what I mean there my mum there's 30 quid you know so I had it I had it I had it made yeah then you know getting your fights looking after your money and everything like that and obviously the house that I live in you know today was the house I always dreamed of but I mean normally you'd have to move further afield out of Manchester in order to you know to get that and I didn't want to move away from not only my family and me kids me kids live around here my grandkids now and my mum and my dad and my brother and my friends and Campbell lives around here now so I never really wanted to um I nearly wanted to venture and normally to have a house like this you'd have to do that but I just bided my time you know just you know stayed in the box room just stayed in a little you know a little smaller house and beautiful house but I mean just stayed there and I just waited till this this come on you know and that spot I've always been a homeboy always been a hometown boy you know How do you think you'd have been Ricky if you'd never done boxing at that age in your 20s do you think you'd have just been 95 and abusers?

32:12Yeah I don't you know I don't think I'd have been you know people say oh if I hadn't found boxing I'd have gone into robbing and stealing and this and that and all the rest of it I'd have been a criminal or I'd have gone to prison I don't think it'd have been like that I think I'd have just gone into the family business and I'd have been a carpet fitter because before I went professional, I was a carpet fitter. Did a bit part-time carpet fitting for my dad a little bit in there to get myself a few quid to put petrol in the car so I could go to Salford and train with the professionals and, you know, a few quid so I could pay me board just, you know, from leaving school.

32:46And I think that's what I'd have done. I'd have been not judging anybody that does that, you know, but I mean, I'd have just, I'd have had a nine to five, I'd have been a carpet fitter, I'd have got me wages, I'd have paid me rent and I'd have been in the pub every night. Was there any telltale signs then when you won your world title that there's maybe excessive drinking? Or was it kind of, not sugar-coated, but it was unseen because you were world champion, you were looking great, that it was kind of under the radar? Or did anybody ever say, look, Ricky, man, you've got your whole future ahead of you, just wait?

33:16No, I never hid. Never hid me drinking from anyone still. Never hid me drinking. I think I'm like most people, we'll probably drink a little bit more than what we should do. But when I had big gaps, I mean, I had big gaps in between me fighting. I'd train for like 12 or 14 weeks, then I'd have like, say, maybe 10 weeks off, and it was like being young and having money and everything like that. It wasn't necessarily the drinking. It was just the drinking and going out in general. And although I wasn't arrogant, and people were like, hey, Ricky, come in, there's a table here. Do you want a drink?

33:53That's on us. It's not that you're arrogant. you know, it's nice and it was nice to go out and stuff like that but I think it was, and when I was winning, it was, when I was winning, defending my titles and making a living and everything like that, it was great but then when things started going wrong was when defeat started, you know, you know, kicking in here. Did you feel untouchable? Certainly, you must have felt untouchable with that going 30-0, 38-0, that flying high in life, beating everybody, that. Well, when I, from a boxing point of view, when I beat Kostya Zou when I fought for the universally undisputed title which meant I'd become not only world champion, the best in my weight division and Kostya Zou was actually number one pound for pound in any weight division and he'd come to Manchester to fight me and I was a massive underdog, nobody expected me to beat him you know, in fact everybody was everyone was dead excited and all behind me Manchester Arena, do you know what I mean?

34:53Mancunian fighting Kostya Zou at the Manchester Arena, you can imagine it was like that, but there was a nervousness because I think everyone thought, come on, Ricky, we want you to do it, but I think a lot, even the ones that were behind me thought, oh shit, this could go a bit pear-shaped. But no, I ended up winning it. I made him quit on his stool and probably Manchester's greatest ever boxing night and it said if I'd have won, it would go down as one of the best wins ever in a British boxing ring and that's where it'd stay and he was such a formidable champion because he was knocking everybody out, such a hard right-hand punch, he was blasting everyone out and everyone was scared to death of me.

35:32But I ended up beating him and I sort of like beat him at his own game. I went straight at him, stayed on his chest and bullied him a little bit and he ended up quitting on his stool. So from a boxing point of view, I thought, yeah, I can't be touched now. If I can walk through him, I can walk through anyone and that's how I went on into my next few fights. but no even when I won the world title and beat Costa Zoo I still remained you know when you said earlier about being untouchable no I think the greatest thing is what my parents brought me up to always be humble feet on the ground and I always and I've since from all the way through I think I've always been that way do you think that's why you get the support that you got and the love that you got is because you're just a fucking good guy just one of the boys and people could see a bit of their self in you except you've just succeeded everything you set out to succeed absolutely I think that's exactly what it is I think people from the Hattersley Council Estate where I was born when they see me winning world titles and they see me coming out the ring and go thanks for everyone who's been there all the way from the start thank you for the fans for paying to come in and support me thanks for all that I'm telling you them people and Hattersley will be like what a lad he'll be in here next week and all him he won't be he won't be on the red carpets he'll be in here but michigan may for example who comes from michigan and the same they call them projects in america don't they are the same sort of like i think i don't think the people in michigan when floyd mayweather wins his belt and goes look at me watch look at me this look at me that no they'll be thinking it's a tosser because you know but no i mean you know i mean you know when you come from the council estate I've always remained humble never forgot the fans I never forgot the people that were there from day one where Floyd's forgot them look at me watch look at me this look at me that and I think people in Michigan will be sat there now thinking what a dick he is and that's the difference you know Floyd will go down as the greatest of all time he's got money you know going out of his ears but I'd rather have the love I have from my fans than the love that he will have from people in Michigan seeing what he's turned into Did you feel an added pressure though to be as humble as you were to try and not fit in?

37:58No, yeah, because that's what I was saying to you earlier about that's why I felt like I had to, I had to thank him, I had to go back because that was the part of me where I thought, you know, people thought, look at him, Charlie B, you know, he'd kill me. And that's why I always remain, because I mean, that's the way my parents brought me up. I wasn't putting anything on, I was not trying to be someone I wasn't but I always the best thing is when I go for a pint on the council stay at walk in the pub and kids come up to me from the estate hey Ricky how you doing that's what it's all it's worth more than gold isn't it so you went to America you were undefeated you thought like you said they're the greatest of all time some people argue that he's not but for me personally it is for everything that he has conquered to have that record so when you're going over to America I think I don't know if it was Frank Bruno it took the most British I think maybe 10 ,000 against Mike Tyson but when you've went you've 35 ,000 40 ,000 people it's just unbelievable to even have in a stadium in the UK never mind America how did that fight come about with you and Floyd Mayweather well I beat Kostya Zoo which was such a massive massive upset and the manner in which I did it and then I become a world champion in two weight divisions I won the world to weight title against Louis Collazo when I boxed in Boston, when I boxed Louis.

39:24And then I went to Las Vegas, won another World title, like World's weight, IBF title, against Juan Urango in my Vegas debut, which was fantastic, seeing your name up in lights for years, watching Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Tyson, and all them on the strip. Then your little fat face comes up. It's something you'd never think is ever going to happen. and then I beat Jose Luis Castillo in the fourth round and he'd previously gone 12-round distance twice with Floyd Mayweather, you know what I mean? So I beat him in four rounds and so then that gave me the opportunity to turn around and say, well, you know, Floyd's the best, I want to be the best, but, you know, where do you have a watch?

40:07You know, like I said, there's more action in my four rounds than in Floyd's previous 24 with him and that got the fight then against Floyd Mayweather and I think it was because we were so different. Do you know what I mean? He was like, as I mentioned earlier, it's all about me watch, it's not about me performance, it doesn't matter about the fans, it's all about making money. You know what I mean? When I was the opposite, I was going, oh, thank you for coming over and supporting me and everything like that. He was like good cop, bad cop and it made the build-up and everything just... And I think the fact that them 40 ,000 fans went over and into his backyard to support him.

40:48Even though I look back now, I mean, at the time when I got beat, as I mentioned earlier, I got beat by Floyd. It hit me very, very hard. I told all these fans I was going to go over there and do it, and I didn't. I felt so let down, and I couldn't leave the house, embarrassed. But now I look back at so much pride when people come up to me on a weekly basis. Oh, Ricky. Went to there with Floyd Mayweather. Oh, it was unbelievable. You couldn't move. Couldn't move on the Strip of Vegas. they ran out of beers in the bars we said we were on the waterfalls we were singing oh unbelievable Ricky and it makes me feel really so so proud now and when you think what he's done since he'll probably go down as arguably the greatest of all time I think Mahmoud Ali will always have the manner you know the the label as the greatest but I think as far as from boxing and skills and wins and just you know just an all round you know I think before I remember we'll probably go down as the greatest but you should be proud yourself I watched it in Mantis in Aberdeen all the families did it I think it was like five in the morning because I named my dog I've got a boxer dog we named my dog after you Hatton so we did cheers cheers I don't know if that's a compliment or I think so maybe they were a dog was it a boxer a boxer for God's sake so our dog was called Hatton and we were all up there watching it it's one of the moments I look back at pride now you know now I've gone through that stage, you know, with my personal life and everything like that now, I couldn't watch the fight forever.

42:21I mean, when I got beat by Mayweather, you know, I had sportsmen's dinners booked and appearances and, you know, this, that. I didn't want to do any of them. I cancelled them all. I didn't want to walk down the house. And when I'd walk through my hometown, I'd be like, you know, are they laughing at me? Are they laughing at me? Are they laughing at me? And it was, and I think that was when, I think it was always there, my mental health, as we mentioned earlier but I think that just sent it moving on that little bit Triggered that Triggered it that little bit more Did you realise how good Floyd Mayweather was?

42:54Yeah Oh yeah I mean when I got in the ring I mean I was from the first bell I thought you know I hope the referee allows me to get close to him You rocked him the first round did you know that? I caught him I think he was more off balance but I think if he'd have hit the if he'd have touched the canvas I said he'd definitely been counted as a knockdown, but I don't know. I think he was more off balance than anything. It was a good start to the fight. But the one thing before the fight was I thought, Floyd likes to box at a distance. You know what I mean? I like to fight up close. And as long as he lets it fight, go at a distance, and lets it go up close, I think we've got a good chance here.

43:33And the fact that I was in his backyard of Las Vegas and the referee was from Las Vegas, I was thinking, I hope he lets me at him. and I think from the start of the fight, it was clear that he wasn't going to let me at him. He kept breaking me and breaking me and breaking me, and I sat down on the stool at the end of the second round, and I said to Billy, I went, it's happened, hasn't it? He's not letting me near him, and he's breaking me, Billy. I said, none of us are holding. None of us are holding. Why am I going to get in and hold? Why, when I get in, I want to hit him. He said, he's breaking, he's breaking.