Manchester has bade a final farewell to one of its most loved sporting heroes as two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton is laid to rest on Friday.
Hatton, a popular, larger-than-life character who unified the light-welterweight division and also won a world welterweight title, was found dead aged 46 at his home in Hyde on Sept. 14.
A funeral procession started on Friday morning at the Cheshire Cheese Pub — Hatton’s local — before heading to Manchester Cathedral, with thousands lining the streets to reflect on his life and times.
The cortege includes stops at Hatton’s boxing gym and the AO Arena, where he enjoyed some of his finest nights, the highlight indisputably being a win over the celebrated Kostya Tszyu on a raucous night 20 years ago to capture his first world title.
Following a private memorial service at midday, the commemorative march will head to the Etihad Stadium, the home of Hatton’s beloved Manchester City.
News of Hatton’s death was announced just hours before the Manchester derby at Eastlands, with a minute’s applause held immediately ahead of kick-off by players and fans of both City and United.
It was just one of innumerable tributes to the ‘Hitman’, including from former world heavyweight champions Frank Bruno, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, fellow Briton Amir Khan, one-time foe Manny Pacquiao and Roberto Duran, Hatton’s hero.
Hatton’s all-action style brought him 45 wins and three defeats from 48 contests but it was his down-to-earth demeanour that especially endeared him to fellow professionals and fans around the world.
That was evidenced by tens of thousands following him to Las Vegas, where he fought the two pound-for-pound greatest fighters of his era in Floyd Mayweather and Pacquiao, with stories of UK fans singing ‘there’s only one Ricky Hatton’ and drinking Sin City dry going down in boxing folklore.
Hatton suffered his first professional defeat when he was stopped by Mayweather in 2007 while a vicious second-round knockout by Pacquiao two years later precipitated his fall from top-level boxing.
A misguided comeback attempt against Vyacheslav Senchenko in 2012 marked the first public admission Hatton was struggling to cope in retirement.
He was a tireless ambassador for mental health charities as well as Manchester-based Barnabus, which supports homeless and vulnerable people, and turned his hand to being a successful trainer in an attempt to fill the void.
Having participated in a no-scoring exhibition against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022, Hatton announced in July he would return to the ring in a professional bout in Dubai in December.
He had resumed training and his family said he had been “in a good place” and “excited for the future” before his death, for which Greater Manchester Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
