Mofo2 Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Matthew Hatton has decided to hang up his gloves aged just 32.The younger Hatton sibling has been a European champion and challenged for a world title against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, but has been considering retirement since his March setback to Chris Van Heerden."The one thing that I always wanted out of my career was the chance to say that I was a world champion," he revealed."After the loss to Van Heerden, I thought about retiring straightaway because I genuinely believe that I should have been able to beat a fighter of that standard. That's not me being disrespectful to Chris because he is a good fighter but I just think to be at the level I believed I could be at, I had to be beating fighters of Chris' calibre.An eye injury sustained in the run up to the Van Heerden fight has also played a part in his decision. Matthew was told that surgery to fix nerve damage would leave him out of action for around eight months, time he felt he cannot afford to lose at this stage of his career."When you've got kids, you begin to realise what is important in life and when you've got a doctor pointing out all the possibilities of what could go wrong, it puts things into perspective," he said."I've got two young children now and even though they can act as a motivation tool for fighters, they also highlight the risks that a fighter takes every time we step into the ring. I've come out of the sport with no real damage done and I'm extremely grateful for that. I've earned well, my health is intact and I've achieved an awful lot for a fighter that a lot of people wrote off.Hatton added: "I've had the chance to work with so many promoters and trainers throughout my life and it'd take me a long time to thank each and every one of them but the two people I'd like to mention are Bob Shannon and Lee Beard."They're the two who I really connected with and the hard work and effort they put in to me is something I'll never forget. I've learned from many great trainers and I'll be hoping to put the knowledge to good use because I definitely want to stay in the sport because I'd get a real buzz taking a young fighter to a big title." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackrican23 Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 should we say sorry to see him go Is this a thread about Hatton retiring or any retiring fighter in general? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mofo2 Posted September 4, 2013 Author Share Posted September 4, 2013 I don't think anyone will be sorry to see him go, he was never that good or exciting to watch anyways! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CruiserWeight Posted September 4, 2013 Members Share Posted September 4, 2013 I don't think anyone will be sorry to see him go, he was never that good or exciting to watch anyways!I'm going to go watch that lady jump/fall off of the building again.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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