Will losing his licence finally Ricky Hatton's career?

Ricky Hatton's luck has went from bad to terrible.

The former world champion was stripped of his boxing license by the British Boxing Board of Control after pictures of his alleged cocaine use appeared in a tabloid, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Hatton also has a promoter's license, but he was allowed to hold on to that.

What does this mean for his boxing career?

At 31, with wins over the likes of Paulie Malignaggi, Juan Urango, Luis Collazo and Kostya Tszyu, you'd think Hatton (45-2, 32 KOs) still has some juice left in the tank. But Boxing is a funny sport. You never know from year to year if someone's skills have eroded. 

Hatton said he went into a deep depression after a lopsided defeat at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in May, 2009. Hatton never made a formal statement regarding his retirement, but for all intent and purposes he was leaning that way.

There were rumors he would come back in the weeks following his defeat, especially after he renewed his license for 2010. But he never got back into the gym or made any formal announcements regarding his future.

With so much talent in the 140-pound division -Tim Bradley, Devon Alexander, Amir Khan, Victor Ortiz, Marcos Maidana, Zab Judah- there's no way Hatton would get a legitimate title shot in the near future. 

If that is indeed the case, maybe it's time for Hatton to move on.

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