Willy Hutchinson has opened up on the emotional turmoil which envelopes him in the aftermath of all his fights, regardless of the result.

After losing on points to Joshua Buatsi in September last year, the Hutch Train got his career back on track by stopping Mark Jeffers in Glasgow on October 4.

But, although drawing a line under 13 months of inactivity with an inside distance victory may seem like cause for celebration, the reality for Hutchinson was the exact opposite.

“It's mad,” Hutchinson tells The Ring. “After a fight, I get really low on myself, win or lose, I get proper down in the dumps. I don't know why. And I've had it my whole career.

“So after the Jeffers fight, I kept myself in and I didn't go anywhere and I didn't have any visitors. I just did my own thing until I got over it.

“It's very, very low. I remember I was driving back after the fight with my dad, my two brothers and my little cousin but no one could speak on the way home.

“I don't know why but I get proper ... I just don’t want anyone speaking. Just shut up. Please, no one speak. I just want some time to myself and I don’t speak to anyone.”

The revelation from Hutchinson bears a striking resemblance to one from Tyson Fury, who has spoken openly about his battles with mental health, particularly after fights.

Most famously, Fury revealed that his most significant victory of all, the 2015 dethroning of Wladimir Klitschko, did not bring him any joy at all. Instead, he said that winning the unified heavyweight title in Dusseldorf brought with it a strange feeling of emptiness.

Hutchinson, The Ring’s No. 10 rated light-heavyweight, is yet to fight for a world title but is now acutely aware of what to expect as soon as he leaves the ring on fight night.

“I do expect it now,” he adds. “But because I expect it I am better at handling.

“You know what I used to do when I used to get low? I used to run away from it all. I’d be a bad little boy but now I know what to do.”

As luck would have it, Hutchinson did not have too long to dwell on his victorious clash with Jeffers, with a showdown against another Brit, Ezra Taylor, scheduled for January 24 in Manchester.

“I never came out of camp,” he adds. “I took four days off after that last fight and I never came out of camp. I just continued the process.

“And in those four days I laid in bed. I didn't get out of bed, to be honest with you. I was more emotionally drained than anything. The fight wasn't nothing. It was just that I was emotionally drained for some reason.

“I don't know why I do it, but I just do, I kept myself away and four days later, I felt good. I booked a hotel for a couple of days away in a very nice place. I just went and did that and then I was good, man.”

After his four days of solitude, Hutchinson returned to the familiar surroundings of Malaga, Spain where he moved into the apartment of his trainer Mirko Wolf for their pre-Taylor camp. At once, he felt at peace again.

Taylor (13-0, 9 KOs) has long been considered one of the rising stars of the British light heavyweight division but he is yet to face anyone of Hutchinson’s calibre. As such, Hutchinson (19-2, 14 KOs) is the odds-on favourite to win their encounter at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena.

“I watched him for two minutes the other day for the first time, and that's all I need,” Hutchinson said of Taylor.

“I never used to watch anyone box but I changed that up a little bit and I watched it here and there to know deep inside me what I need to do to reassure myself. And I'm well reassured. There's no plan. It's go in there and get the job done. It's simple; you can complicate a lot of things but this isn’t one of them. It's go and get the job done and move forward.”

And should he start 2026 with a victory which will nudge him ever closer to his dream of becoming world champion, does Hutchinson expect the usual clouds to gather overhead?

“Of course,” he says. “I’m used to it now whether I win or lose. But I’m at peace with myself and I know what I’ve got to do. You know what - it’s just life.”