Matthew Hatton announces retirement

Great Britain's former European champion Matthew Hatton has called time on his boxing career.

The 32-year-old has taken the decision following his defeat to Chris Van Heerden in March.

"The one thing that I always wanted out of my career was the chance to say that I was a world champion," said the Stockport-born fighter.

"After the loss to Van Heerden, I thought about retiring straightaway because I genuinely believe that I should have been able to beat a fighter of that standard.

"That's not me being disrespectful to Chris because he is a good fighter but I just think to be at the level I believed I could be at, I had to be beating fighters of Chris's calibre."

Hatton is the brother of former WBA (Super), IBF and IBO champion Ricky.