Ricky Hatton has died at the age of 46 after being found at his home in Greater Manchester in the early of Sunday morning.
Hatton, nicknamed ‘The Hitman’, endeared himself to the British public during a brilliant boxing career that saw him become world champion at light-welterweight and welterweight.
Ricky’s Hatton death not being treated as suspicious, say police
Greater Manchester Police are currently not treating his death as suspicious.
In a short statement on Sunday, a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: ‘Officers were called by a member of the public to attend Bowlacre Road, Hyde, Tameside, at 6:45am today where they found the body of a 46-year-old man.
‘There are not currently believed to be any suspicious circumstances.’
Ricky Hatton’s illustrious career
Hatton’s career needs no introduction to boxing fans, having held multiple world championships at light-welterweight and one at welterweight during a 15-year professional career between 1997 and 2012.
During his time in the ring, he won 45 of his 48 professional bouts – with the highlight coming in 2005. That year he won the IBF, Ring and lineal titles by beating Kostya Tszyu, before beating Carlos Maussa to claim the WBA title.
A year later he claimed the WBA title by beating Luis Collazo and added the IBF strap to his collection in 2007.
However, that year he suffered his first professional defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Despite the defeat the memory of more than 30,000 fans travelling to Las Vegas in support of the Brit and chanting ‘there’s only one Ricky Hatton’ in the aftermath of that fight has never been forgotten.
In another mouth-watering fight in 2009, Hatton lost his light-welterweight titles to Manny Pacquiao in 2009 in what proved to be his final fight for three years. He made a comeback against Vyacheslav Senchenko in 2012 but lost that in his hometown of Manchester.
He did fight Marco Antonio Barrera in an exhibition in 2022 and was due to make his comeback in the ring this December before his passing.
Tributes for Ricky Hatton
Following the news of his passing, the tributes have poured in for the beloved Hatton.
Taking to Instagram, Tyson Fury wrote: ‘RIP to the legend Ricky Hatton. There will only ever be one Ricky Hatton. Can’t believe this – so young.’
Former light-welterweight world champion Amir Khan wrote on X: ‘Today we lost not only one of Britain’s greatest boxers, but a friend, a mentor, a warrior.
‘Rest well, Ricky. You’ll always have your place in the ring of our memories.’
IBO world middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr said: ‘Rest in Peace Mr Ricky Hatton. We salute you’.
The World Boxing Association said Hatton’s legacy would ‘live on in every fight and in the hearts of boxing fans around the world’, describing him as a ‘true champion, an indomitable spirit and a legend of the sport’.
