By James Blears
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman is advising former two-division champion Ricky Hatton that his hard fought knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr, isn’t the end of the world, and he must psychologically bounce back.
Floyd iced "The Hitman" with a micky finn of a left hook in the tenth round of their much anticipated encounter in Las Vegas on December 8th.
Since then British newspapers reported that Ricky went on a drinking binge in the Canary Islands consuming vast amounts of alcohol.
Don Jose says he understands why Ricky has done this, but urges the fighter to look to a bright future which is still beaconing, instead of lamenting his first professional loss which is now an irreversible fact. His snap out of it advice is:
“Ricky could still have a brilliant career with many fights including (Manny) Pacquiao and perhaps Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley.
“I think he does not understand and does not care about it now. The only thing he cares about is that he lost. That he’d never lost before, and he’d always been very proud, with his head held high. Now he’s come down with his head low and is totally frustrated.
“We’ve got to let him finish that feeling with beer or whatever. Now he will not accept any advice from anybody.”
Don Jose says he’s waiting for Ricky to pass this phase and come back to reality so people can talk sense to him.
He reflected that excessive drinking can and does destroy lives, stressing: “I have seen that the people who are willing to change, are only those who understand after that there’s nothing but death. When they understand that, it’s the time when they open their minds realizing that is the end.
“And that should not be the end for such a great hero- a great boxer!”
