Ricky Hatton sunk 25 pints in a day in depths of cocaine-fuelled binges
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Ricky Hatton has revealed how he sunk 25 pints of Guinness a day plus spirits in the depths of his cocaine-fuelled binges.
âThe Hitmanâ, 44, has also admitted for the first time he only started using coke as it gave him the ability to sink more stout and hard liquor.
He turned to drink and drugs to numb the pain of his retirement from boxing after his dazzling ring career came to an agonising end in May 2009 with a devastating second round knockout by Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
Ricky â cruelly branded âRicky Fattonâ when his weight ballooned in between fights due to his boozing â told the 30846676 in an exclusive interview from his Manchester mansion how he spiralled into addictions as he battled to recreate the buzz of his boxing bouts.
READ MORE: Depressed Ricky Hatton told psychiatrist 'I'll kill myself' after run of defeats
He admitted: âI took cocaine â I never took heroin. It was in many ways it was tough times. I was taking drugs, but I think the drinking was more of a problem, and I think I was taking a line to keep me drinking.â
When asked to describe his worst day of boozing, Ricky initially recoiled at putting a number on the amount of drinks he would sink â as his binges would often last 36 hours.
The former world champion and dad-of-three said: âI wouldnât like to say to be honest with you â it would be horrific.
âIt would be drinking from 12 in the afternoon to 4 in the morning or 6 in the morning or something like that.â
He then admitted: âYouâre talking about 30 drinks arenât you? Thatâs horrific. And youâre having the drugs so you can drink more.
âA normal person â youâd be finished by 1 or 2 in the morning or something like that, and youâd have a decent drink. But a few times I was going for a day-and-a-half.
âI was really a beer drinker, but then I started to get a little bit bloated because I was a Guinness drinker.
âTo be honest with you, before I went on to my spirits I would do 25 pints of Guinness all day long, before the shots. And I was having bits of lines here and there to keep me going.â
Ricky had his son Campbell, 22, when he was in his early 20s and shares daughters Millie, 11, and Fearne, 10, with his ex-fiancée Jennifer Dooley, 44.
Jennifer stuck by him when he started to go off the rails after he hung up his gloves, but left when his drinking and partying spiralled into chaos.
In one of his saddest admissions, Ricky said he decided to drink himself to death as he didnât have the guts to slash his wrists.
He also said he desperately fought to keep his mental health woes and all-day crying sessions from his loved ones and pals as he didnât want them to âworryâ or think he was a âweirdoâ.
âPeople, when they hear youâve got mental health issues, they think youâve lost the plot or something,â Ricky added.
âFor ladies, theyâre more likely to share it, but for men, you canât just tell someone, âGive me five minutes of your time â I want to kill myself and Iâve been crying all day.â You donât, do you?â
He added about trying to end his life when he was at his lowest: âIâd come in and get a knife to my wrist, and Iâd be crying and sobbing all the time.
âI was giving myself panic attacks. I thought they were heart attacks.
âI didnât have the confidence to slit my wrists, and when my ex (Jennifer) would come in, Iâd put a brave face on because I didnât want her to worry, and I didnât want my mum and dad to worry.
âAnd I didnât want to share it with my mates because I didnât want my mates thinking I was a weirdo.â
Ricky finally got help by checking into rehab.
But he told us it was a âwaste of timeâ as his carers constantly brushed off his case as alcoholism.
Ricky finally got some of the help he needed at former England football captain Tony Adamsâ Sporting Chance rehab and therapy facility.
Rickyâs rollercoaster life has also seen him cut off all contact with his parents Ray and Carol for eight years.
The feud came after he discovered his father had stashed a fortune of his boxing cash in an account he told his son nothing about.
He also had a tragic falling out with his âbest palâ and father figure trainer Billy âThe Preacherâ Graham.
He took the Hattons to court for allegedly withholding wages â ending in a ÂŁ1.4million settlement.
Rickyâs rise from a council estate in Hattersley to landing multiple light-welterweight and welterweight world championship titles has now been immortalised in the new documentary Hatton, which aired on Sky last week.
- Ricky Hatton
- Exclusives
- Boxing
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