WORLD OF Tough guy Hock can’t help crying over texts

GARETH HOCK had tears rolling down his face this week as he read messages about his retirement.

For more than a decade the Leigh utility player has been renowned as one of the most feared forwards in the game.

But after calling time on a career that included a two-year drugs ban – and almost as much time suspended for on-field offences – the 35-year-old Hock, right, was inundated by texts from a host of his peers.

“Wednesday night was quite emotional and I’m not an emotional person,” he said.

“When I went to talk to the players

HOCK: Hanging up his boots and staff at Leigh there were quite a few tears and I got some nice feedback on social media. “Then I was reading through texts at night and I was sat there with tears dripping down my face. “There were some really nice messages from tough blokes that I played with and against.”

Hock decided to call it a day because he struggles to recover fully after matches and because he was unwilling to become an “Average Joe” on the field.

“I want to be remembered for all the good times, all the good stuff when I used to play forWigan and for Great Britain and England,” he said. DILLIAN WHYTE believes he is on the right track while old rival Anthony Joshua is going backwards.

Whyte, who faces Oscar Rivas tonight at the O2, said: “When I fought Joshua I think he was maxed out already. He had an Olympic set-up behind him and I was just doing my thing. But things have changed. I’m incredibly focused. He is boxing now on muscle memory.”