By John F. McKenna (McJack): As happens so many times when a fighter retires former lightweight and welterweight champion Ricky Hatton (45-3, 32 KO’s) had to test the waters one more time. Hopefully after Saturday nights 9th round KO at the hands of Vyacheslav Senchenko (33-1, 22 KO’s) Hatton will retire and stay retired.

By his own admission the much loved British warrior wanted to see if he still had what it takes to perform at a high level. After the fight Hatton ruefully acknowledged that he had come up short and had the answers he needed to determine his future with regard to his boxing career.

From the time the “Hitman” made the announcement that he was making a comeback the odds were stacked against him. Many of Hatton’s fans were ecstatic at the prospect of once again seeing their charismatic hero in the ring. The outcome of Saturday nights fight against Senchenko was not what Hatton’s legions of fans had in mind. It is clear however that Ricky has the kind of hold on his fans that few fighters in the past have enjoyed and that they would remain loyal to him no matter what happened Saturday night.

Inside the heart of every retired fighter lies the hope that that somehow he can reverse the odds and again achieve the elusive goal of being a champion again. But for Hatton the mountain was too high and the slopes too steep. Too much had happened to Ricky since the night back in May 2009 when he squared off against Manny Pacquiao. The 2nd round KO Pacquiao administered to Hatton in and of itself was devastating enough.

What followed however was at least equally devastating. The depression and alleged drug and alcohol abuse coupled with an enormous weight gain and suicide attempts sometimes takes years to work through. To return from everything Ricky has been through and again become a champion in the ring is near impossible.

Hatton gave it his best shot in front of 20,000 of his adoring British fans before he was taken out of the fight by Senchenko’s 9th round body blow. He has nothing to be ashamed of. He has the luxury of being able to return to his family and friends with his head held high.

To his credit after the fight Hatton acknowledged that it did not matter how hard he trained, the results would have been the same.