MANILA, Philippines - Ricky Hatton can still feel the embarrassment of his terrible knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao that he hasn’t watched the tape of the fight that took place almost two weeks ago.
“I haven’t watched the fight yet,” said Hatton as quoted by the Daily Express in the U.K. yesterday.
Hatton was out of public only once since he took the second-round defeat to Pacquiao – when he opened his own state-of-the-art gym in Manchester the other day.
“I don’t know whether I will watch it. It has been embarrassing for me,” said Hatton who’s been getting calls for him to retire, and live a good life with his beautiful family.
“Getting back to reality is what I’ve got to do, having a holiday with my son and the sooner I can make the decision the better. Once I get back to normal I’ll be in a position to decide what I want to do.
“I’m not saying it is over yet, but I am not in a position to make a final call. My head was in bits after the fight and I am still in recovery mode. It all happened so quickly,” he told Niall Hickmann.
Hatton said he could still remember the two knockdowns in the first round, and even felt that he hurt Pacquiao in the second round – until the knockout punch came in the final nine seconds.
Referee signaled the end of the fight with only a second remaining in the second round as Hatton lay motionless on the MGM Grand canvas, being attended to by ring physicians.
“It has been difficult to take for me. It is just embarrassing really. I know he is not that much better than me. Before I could get warmed up he nailed me. I felt I hurt him in the second round, but no sooner had I hurt him than he nailed me again,” Hatton said.
Hatton was taken to the Valley Hospital in Las Vegas, and underwent a battery of tests, including a brain scan, before he was allowed to leave.
The following day, he was seen at the poolside of the MGM Grand, enjoying the warm sunshine with his gorgeous fiancée Jennifer Dooley.
But he said things weren’t normal as they seemed then.
“I couldn’t think of anything the next morning. My mind was in 50 different places going over different scenarios. You won’t hear the last of me in boxing, but the physical side of fighting is the last thing that should be on my mind right now.
“I just want to rest, recharge my batteries and get life back to normal,” Hatton told the Daily Express.