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Ricky Hatton Calls It Quits After Vyacheslav Senchenko Loss

Ricky Hatton, a former two-weight world champion, has announced his retirement for a second time after his comeback defeat to 35-year-old Vyacheslav Senchenko Saturday night.

The 34-year-old Hatton previously announced his retirement in July of 2011, but had not fought since 2009. Hatton wanted to see if he could still compete in the sport that he loved.

“I needed one more fight to see if I had still got it – and I haven’t” he said. “I couldn’t have done any better.”

Hatton started the fight aggressively, but as the match progressed fatigue began to set in and he began to let his guard down. A body shot delivered by Senchenko to Hatton’s ribs in the ninth-round ended the fight and he knew his career was done.

“A fighter knows and I know it isn’t there anymore,” Hatton said. “I have got to be a man and say it is the end of Ricky Hatton.”

Hatton admitted after the fight that he was in the best shape he could be in, but even if the hit to body would not have occurred, he would have barely been able to finish the fight.

“It’s too many hard fights, I’ve burned the candle at both ends, I’ve put my body through the mire in and out of the ring,” he said.

This is Hatton’s second disappointing defeat. He was knocked out in his previous fight by Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas in 2009 and retired following the loss.

After the Saturday night defeat, Hatton said he accomplished his goal by seeing if he could mount a comeback without being eliminated in the early rounds.

“I have got the answers I needed,” Hatton said. “I can look at myself in the mirror and tell myself I did my best.”

Matthew Macklin, the former European middleweight champion, feels Hatton made the right decision.

“It is the right thing to do,” Macklin told BBC Sport. “He was a shadow of his former self on Saturday night.”

Hatton’s career has had a lasting impression on Macklin and boxing community. Macklin said that instead of mourning his loss, that his career should be celebrated.

“We should talk about how good he was,” Macklin said. “He is one of the greatest British fighters, certainly one of the most exciting, and he is a former two-time world champion.”

Hatton ends his career with a lifetime of record of 45-3.

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