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Tuesday 30 October 2012

I was close to taking my own life, admits Ricky Hatton

Ricky Hatton has revealed just how close he came to committing suicide during his three-year retirement from boxing.  The 34-year-old said his girlfriend often had to prise a knife from his hand as depression took its toll on his life.  Hatton, who has had well-publicised battles with drink, drugs and depression after his loss to Manny Pacquiao in his last fight since May 2009, will return to the ring against Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Senchenko next month.  He told Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek programme: “I was near to a nervous breakdown, depression, suicidal. Most mornings my girlfriend would have to come downstairs and take a knife out of my hand. I had a knife at my wrists, I was in a really bad way, just hysterically crying for no reason.

“I’ve always liked a little bit of a drink, but my drinking had gone way off the Richter scale, I was having blackouts.  “And even if I was stone cold sober I was trying to kill myself. The real lowest point was when my little girl came along, who is one-year-old now. Hatton’s sonCampbell had the misfortune to see his dad in such a bad way, I am not going to do it any more to my kids and I’m not going to put my family though it any more.”  Hatton claims his life now is “really rosy”, but admitted in his eyes he was returning to the ring “ashamed” and as a “failure”.
“I feel sad because I feel ashamed of myself,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many people say, ‘Ricky, everyone has problems and you got beaten my (Floyd) Mayweather (Jr) and Pacquiao who are the two best fighters of our generation, you did the country proud’.  “That’s very kind of people to say, but they don’t have to deal with this little fella who sits on my shoulder every day telling me that I’m a failure and I’ve let my family and my fans down and British sport, British boxing down. I feel a failure and it doesn’t matter how many people say, ‘Don’t be too hard on yourself’, that’s how I feel and that’s how I’m coming back. I feel I’ve got to redeem myself.
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Monday 29 October 2012

Vitali Klitschko Enters Parliment

Vitali Klitschko, the reigning world heavyweight boxing champion, is about to engage in a different kind of fight.  He is set to enter Ukraine's parliament as a lawmaker and the head of the UDAR party, following Sunday's parliamentary elections. UDAR stands for Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms. The word also means “punch” in Ukrainian.  The over 2-meters-tall athlete conducted a campaign in which he was critical of corruption and cronyism in the government of Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych. Klitschko said after preliminary voting results that he would join the opposition alliance.

Klitschko is not an entire newcomer to the political process. He has twice staged unsuccessful runs to become the mayor of Kiev. In a statement on his website, he says he has entered politics because he wants to help his country “toward a better future.” He says his country continues to lag behind its Eastern European neighbors. Ukraine is the second largest nation after Russia to emerge from the former Soviet Union.  Klitschko is only the fourth boxer – besides Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis – to win a heavyweight belt for the third time.

Friday 26 October 2012

Emanuel Steward devastates Lenox Lewis



Lewis is one of many top fighters to have had his career shaped by Steward, whose passing was last night confirmed by his sister. He was 68 and had recently undergone surgery for a stomach illness. He trained more than 40 world champions during his illustrious career, with Lewis being one of them. He went to Steward's Kronk Gym in Detroit after losing his WBC heavyweight title to Oliver McCall in 1994, reclaimed his title in 1997 and went on to have a spell as the undisputed champion before retiring in 2004. "I'm completely devastated by the passing of my long-time friend, mentor and trainer Emanuel "Manny" Steward," Lewis wrote on his official website."Manny has helped me get through some of the biggest fights in my career and I only regret that I couldn't return the favour and see him through his biggest fight. "We've maintained a close relationship and the last time we spoke he seemed his usual upbeat self so it was very disturbing to hear about his illness and rapid decline.

"It is with a heavy heart that realisation of what I hoped were just rumours are now in fact true. Manny always told me I was the best, but the truth is, HE was the best and I'm grateful, privileged and honoured to be counted among his many historic successes." Steward was inducted to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996 and rose to prominence as a corner man owing to his work with Detroit fighter Thomas Hearns. Hearns, who became Steward's first professional fighter along with another Detroit native, Hilmer Kenty, in 1977, won his first world title in 1980 and went on to engage in a series of all-time classics with Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler. "This has been a very tragic year for the boxing world, but today we've truly lost one of its crown jewels," Lewis added.