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Ricky Hatton’s son Campbell pays emotional tribute to former two-weight world champion at his funeral manchesterSaying: “I can’t tell you how much I’ll miss you, Dad.”
Hatton, a popular, larger-than-life character who unified the light-welterweight division and also won the world welterweight title, was found dead at his home in Hyde on September 14, aged 46.
campbell hattonTaking up boxing after his father and winning 14 of his 16 professional bouts before retiring this year, he said at the memorial service: “I can’t tell you how much I’ll miss you, Dad, and we won’t be making any new memories – but I’ll always remember what we did.”
A funeral procession began at 9.45am at the Cheshire Cheese Pub – Hatton’s local – and was led by the famous relict Robin Van of Only Fools and Horses. Hatton was a big fan of the show and once bought an original tricycle for £4,000.
The contingent included stops at Hatton’s Boxing Gym and the AO Arena, where he enjoyed some of his finest moments, with the undisputed highlight being a victory over the famous Kostya Tszyu to capture his first world title on a raucous night 20 years ago.
Thousands of mourners in Manchester lined the streets to pay tribute to Hatton, with a private memorial service in the city’s cathedral starting at noon.
In attendance was the Oasis frontman Liam GallagherA longtime friend of Hatton’s, who accompanied him on his ring walk with brother Noel against Paulie Malignaggi. vegas in 2008.
The great and good of British boxing also visited the cathedral, including Tyson Fury, Tony Bellew and Frank Bruno, as well as former England cricket captain Andrew Flintoff and former Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney.
Among the mourners was Hatton’s former trainer Billy Graham, with whom he was almost inseparable in his journey from amateur level to the top of the boxing world.
Hatton’s mother Carol said in a statement read on his behalf at the service: “’The Hitman’ was loved by his army of fans – the People’s Champion, and he says that’s how he wants to be remembered.
“He was our little champion since the day he was born, long before this honor.”
Following the service, the memorial march moved to the Etihad Stadium, home of Hatton’s beloved Manchester City, where hundreds of fans sang the club’s anthems ‘Blue Moon’ and ‘There’s Only One Ricky Hatton’.
Hatton’s all-action style earned him 45 wins and three losses in 48 contests.
But it was his down-to-earth demeanor that especially endeared him to fellow professionals and fans around the world.
This was evidenced by the thousands who followed him to Las Vegas, where he fought two of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of his era, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, with UK fans singing ‘There’s only one Ricky Hatton’ and stories of him drinking Sin City Dry in boxing folklore.
Hatton suffered his first professional defeat when he was stopped by Mayweather in 2007, while a second-round knockout by Pacquiao two years later forced him out of top-level boxing.
A botched comeback attempt against Vyacheslav Senchenko in 2012 marked the first public acknowledgment that Hatton was struggling to cope in retirement.
He was a tireless ambassador for mental health charity Aswell as Manchester-based Barnabus, which supports the homeless and vulnerable, and turned his hand to becoming a success coach in an effort to fill the void.
After taking part in a no-scoring exhibition against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022, Hatton announced in July that he would return to the ring in a professional bout in Dubai in December.
He had resumed training and his family said he was “in a good place” and “excited for the future” before his death, to which Greater Manchester Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.