Joe Calzaghe has discussed the heartbreak he has felt since the passing of Ricky Hatton.
Welsh legend Calzaghe and Manchester icon Hatton came through the professional ranks together and boxed on several of the same bills for promoter Frank Warren.
Over the years, they did numerous photoshoots together, one in particular saw them both dressed as Father Christmas, and in more recent years they completed a boxing speaking tour, the Legends Tour – around the UK with Nigel Benn and Frank Bruno.
“It was hard and a shock,” Calzaghe said of coming to terms with Hatton’s suicide. “We did the Legends Tour together and with myself, Nigel Benn and Frank Bruno and we spent a lot of time together over that month and he was just beautiful to be around, always funny, always joking, even off camera… he’s a brilliant speaker, he’s a comedian, he was just naturally funny, but when we spoke we did talk about mental health. He made a point of mentioning about the troubles that happen with retirement and it’s the same with Nigel, because I know we had issues with it – and Frank and myself – because it’s just people only see you in one light, so when you’re behind closed doors it’s tough and we’ve all struggled.”
Calzaghe, like Hatton, made it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and Calzaghe has discussed how hard life after boxing is to negotiate, even having retired undefeated, when he wanted, and having made a fortune.
“I think there’s nothing really in place for boxers,” he added. “I think in other sports, you have a lot of things, and this is not just talking about world champions, there’s fighters that haven’t really won titles, but they still have to suffer afterwards regarding what you do when you’re retired. There’s no structure in place. It would be good if possibly promoters, people from the higher end of the boxing world, would do a bit more regarding support for fighters after they retire. It’s a tough one, but it’s just sad. What do you do afterwards? And me personally, when I retired from boxing, I retired on my own terms, I didn’t have to suffer devastating losses, you know, which, bless him, I know it affected Ricky. Even though the beautiful, amazing stuff he did, and the millions of people that supported him, thousands of people coming to America to watch him. He’s loved, one of the most loved fighters, the people’s champion, but it’s tough.”
Not only is there not much in place to help fighters around the world, but there is a lack of initiatives to get former fighters motivated in moving into the next phase of their lives and making them equipped to do so.
Asked whether fighters should be given information packs about how to best take the next steps, Calzaghe admitted: “That’s a tough one to answer, because I'll be honest with you, if I was given something, would I have took notice? I think fighting at the top of your sport for all them years and having that structure and routine, you know, you train every day, you know when you have to train and then what happened to me personally, the more big fights I had, I fight twice a year, so I used to manage it okay where I used to live in the gym early in my career, at the end of my career, when you get bigger fights, bigger money you can afford to go on better holidays, I’d have that big gap, so I would probably be partying a little bit between fights, and then parties become a bit longer, then I’d have that training camp, where I’d be training, but then, when it’s finished, you haven’t got that training camp anymore, you haven’t got that euphoria, you ain't got that buzz, and that sacrifice, where you lose all that weight, and then it's just a big gap there.
“I struggled for many years. I understand why Ricky struggled, and other fighters. It’s tough, but I think, eventually, the answer is to get help, whether it’s going to a program, or professional help, talking to people, because it's not sustainable. What happened to me with my dad and my mum [passing away close together] and this and that. Thank God I managed to stop drinking, that was a massive thing, and that’s the biggest thing, addictions, we're trying to blank things out, and trying to fill a void, it was a massive void.”
It was one that ultimately sadly consumed Hatton in September.
“I was really upset. Still talking about him, it’s still emotional,” Calzaghe admitted. “It’s just so sad and upsetting.”
