London, May 26(ANI): Former Ring Light Welterweight and WBA Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton has said he was so depressed after retiring from boxing that he tried to kill himself with a knife.

Hatton admits retiring from boxing completely changed his life, and he sank deeper into depression due to booze and cocaine.

But now everything seems back on track for Hatton, as the dad-of-two is only high on life, and leading a happy life.

Retiring was a killer for me - almost literally. I had achieved all my dreams, got world titles, an MBE, been told I was the best fighter and earned more money than I ever dreamed of, The Sun quoted Hatton, as saying.

Then suddenly I got knocked on my ar*e and had to retire. I just thought, 'What have I got to look forward to in life now? Everything else is going to be s***'. I didn't care whether I lived or died, he added.

There were loads of times in the early hours when I just came home and sat on the settee, got the knife out and pressed it to my chest. Thank God I didn't go through with it, he said.

Ricky's recovery began when he went into rehab in September 2010 after being pictured using cocaine. (ANI)