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Phil Taylor felt sick when he heard the news of Ricky Hatton’s death, remembering his friend as ‘just a normal good kid’ who conquered the world.
The former world champion was a wildly popular figure in his sport and beyond, with both his talent in the ring and his personality making him a huge name not just in Britain but around the world.
Tributes have poured in for the Hitman, while his family released a heart-breaking statement, and Taylor has also spoken out.
The Power and the Hitman were long-term friends, with the Taylor a big boxing fan and Hatton enjoying the darts, regularly attending the World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Speaking at the launch of a Target Darts pop-up in Manchester, the 16-time world champion told Metro: ‘He was normal, if that makes sense. There were no airs and graces about him.
‘If he’d buy you a drink, he’d say, “right Taylor, get your money out, it’s your turn.” He wasn’t flash or anything like that, just a normal, good kid.
‘It’s such a shame. It made me feel sick.’
On his memories of his friend, Taylor said: ‘Just normal things. Watching his fights, spending time with him, going out with him, you know what I mean? I have a lot to do with his mum and dad, Carol and Ray.
‘In fact his dad texted me last night saying thank you [for your condolences]. I shall go see his mum and dad, I’ll probably go see them next week, see if they’re alright and everything.’
Hatton spoke openly about depression he suffered after high profile defeats late in his boxing career to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Speaking on ITV in 2017, he said: ‘After the [Floyd] Mayweather fight I started drinking a lot more heavily and ultimately I fell out with my parents and that was difficult for me and I did not care if I lived or died.
‘I contemplated suicide many, many times. I started thinking of different ways to get through it and I thought I could drink myself to death.
‘So consequently I got more depressed and I ended up taking drugs to enable me to drink more and it was a vicious circle.’
Taylor has never experienced such a dark place, but relates to the highs and lows of sport, saying he would find himself at low points after World Championship campaigns, even if he had won the title.
‘You’d win the World Championship, you’d have all that hype, because I was getting ready for the Worlds around August time, after the Matchplay,’ he said.
‘You’d build yourself up, build yourself up, you’d win the World Championship and then the door shuts, it goes quiet, and then you come down.
‘It’s like a bereavement. It’s absolutely strange. I did it that many times, I got used to it but I was always thinking, it’s that feeling again, where you can just sit and cry.’
Taylor said that it was not so much there was not anyone to talk to about the situation, he was just brought up not to speak out on his feelings.
‘In my generation, you didn’t,’ he said. ‘”Are you a man or a mouse?” That’s what my mum would say to you. “Are you a man or a mouse?” Get on with it.’
Taylor retired from competitive darts in 2018 and the man now ruling the roost on the oche, Luke Littler, is from a different generation entirely.
The 18-year-old was not around to watch Hatton in his pomp, but has become a fan and paid tribute to the boxing icon.
‘What I do, when I’m bored at night, I just go through old boxing fights and stuff like that and then my dad was talking about it,’ said the world champion. ‘The fight against Pacquiao and Mayweather where he’s winning it but the ref was splitting it up.
‘Even when we found out, I think Chris Dobey and Ross Smith, they both said he was a proper lad. I think they said he was at the Matchplay years and years on the run, but I never got the chance to meet him. It is sad.’
World-leading darts manufacturer Target Darts opened the UK’s ultimate darting pop-up experience in Manchester to celebrate their biggest-ever product launch. For more details on the latest darts products, please visit: www.target-darts.co.uk
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