Ricky Hatton fading into retirement like Kostya Tszyu

HomeSportColumnistsDavid Anderson Ricky Hatton fading into retirement like Kostya Tszyu By David Anderson 11/06/2010 After finishing Kostya Tszyu's career, Ricky Hatton appears to be following the ring legend's path to retirement. Tszyu never fought again after quitting on his stool against Hatton five years ago on that magical night at Manchester's MEN Arena. There was no big fanfare, no tearful announcements or big press conferences like Lennox Lewis or Oscar De La Hoya had to say their goodbyes. Tszyu just never boxed again. Now Hatton seems to be gradually fading into the background in the same way. He steadfastly refuses to admit he has retired, despite the weight of evidence to the contrary. It has been 13 months since Hatton was sparked out by Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena and his attempted comeback in January quickly fizzled out when he discovered Guiness was more of a lure than the ring. According to those close to the Hitman, he could not face killing himself in the gym to shrink down to his 10-stone fighting weight after seven months of excess. In his latest interview, he has come closest yet to admitting his glittering career is over, but still can't bring himself to say that's it. He said: "Boxing started off as a habit and it ended up giving me some money and making me a little bit of a better person. But I don't think I will have a fight again. "But you can never say never as I have not announced officially that I won't be boxing. "At the moment, I don't have any fire in the belly for a fight or to get myself to a gym. But it has been only 13 months and I am only 31, so never count me out." I think we can count Hatton out and there is no shame in that. He will go down as one of our great champions and he ruled the light-welterweight division for four years before Pacquiao dethroned him. He was a two-weight world champion and one of our most-popular fighters ever, ranking alongside Henry Cooper and Frank Bruno, judging by the tens of thousands who followed him to Vegas in 2007. He made the most out of every last drop of talent he had and made an estimated fortune of £35million. So go now Ricky. You've nothing to prove to anyone, least of all yourself.