Hatton vs. Senchenko - Fighting For Body and Mind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M72PPf5XHY €œDon€™t call it a comeback, I€™ve been here for years€ €“ A line made famous by LLCoolJ on €˜Mamma Said Knock You Out€™; a track that was to become one of the defining moments of €˜Uncle L€™s€™ genre defying, long career. The content and the delivery was fuelled by decreasing commercial sales and negative critical reviews of his preceding bodies of work raising questions over LL€™s ability to make hard-hitting, relevant hip hop at the time. The gauntlet had been thrown down in the mind of James Todd Smith and the tone for the majority of the album, from the iconic album cover to the shadow boxing video for the title track, was one of a fight. A fight to regain LL€™s previously lofty position of one of Hip Hop€™s most respected artists. His key message being put forth in the first line of the title track; I may have experienced new career lows, but I never left and I will keep fighting. The importance of that message should not be lost on Ricky Hatton who, on Saturday night in the Manchester MEN Arena, suffered an emotional defeat at the hands of former Ukrainian and WBA World Champion Vyacheslav Senchenko. Leading up to this fight, Hatton€™s career had been halted in its tracks as he suffered two rather brutal KO losses to the world€™s leading Pound-for-Pound fighters, albeit chronologically punctuated with some hard fought victories over solid opponents. These defeats resulted, correctly in many people€™s opinion, in Hatton retiring from the ring having had an illustrious career when viewed in its entirety, start to finish. Fast forward 3 and a half years and the news of a comeback filtered through... Unlike LLCoolJ, this announcement very much was a €˜comeback€™. Ricky Hatton had retired for a long time by boxing standards. Ricky Hatton had not simply been faced with slipping down the pecking order in his weight class, scrapping it out with second tier opponents. It was not a case of him rebuilding confidence, punch resistance, ring sharpness and a change in tactics which would hopefully see him rise to World Champion status again. There are many examples in boxing, perhaps more than most sports, of careers spent fluctuating between seemingly devastating defeats and equally incredible rises to stardom. A recent example from the domestic boxing scene is the career of Amir Khan; a divisive figure who has experienced the true highs and lows of a rollercoaster ride of a boozing career. These remarkable cases of a fighter remerging as a genuine World Champion contender are built on the foundation of continuing activity in the ring to try and avoid the inevitable slowing down of usually razor-sharp boxing skills. Ask Ricky Hatton and the reasons for this comeback after such a long absence were not primarily motivated by the desire to mix with the divisions finest. Instead, Hatton cited inner demons whose grip on his life and happiness was being facilitated by well documented drug and alcohol problems which unfortunately is behaviour not uncommon in retiring boxers; ask Oscar De La Hoya. The boxer€™s solution to this ongoing torment was to return to a state which would focus his mind on a cleaner, healthier lifestyle. The solution was a return to the ring. Known to have consulted a mental health councillor during his time of substance abuse, it would be interesting to hear professional opinion on the lasting impacts of a return to training. It could perhaps be argued that given the intense physical training, along with a strict diet regime and very little time spent out of the gym, the addictive behaviour often associated with substance abusers was still being nurtured. While it is quite obvious that dedicated training is ultimately healthy, one has to wonder if the removal of this structured lifestyle will lead to a relapse into the state of mind which followed his demolition by Manny Pacquiao and subsequent retirement. Nevertheless at this moment in time Hatton is a far healthier individual, both physically and mentally. Dropping the remarkable amount of nearly half his body weight, Hatton step in the ring to face Senchenko looking as fit as he was in his prime. One thing did seem out of place though and that was the ageing of Hatton€™s youthful and often comically mischievous face. A tell tale sign of the impact of the last three and a half years, which perhaps should have served as a sign of things to come for the raucous partisan crowd. After starting well in his accustomed role of pressure fighter, tiredness seemed to get the better of Hatton. Misplaced power punches and a distinct lack of lateral movement on the offensive set the ominous tone of what was to be a disciplined display from his opponent. Noticeably tiring, Senchenko started to unload more power shots of his own and just like that the Mancunian was stopped with a shuddering left hook to the body; ironically the old Hatton€™s weapon of choice. Emotional, yet controlled in his post-fight interview, Hatton conceded that he €˜no longer had it€™ and once again made the decision to retire. An unequivocal, yet acceptable defeat for the body; only time will tell if Ricky has won the battle for a healthy mindset.

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