British boxer Ricky Hatton, a popular former world champion at two weight classes who was attempting a comeback to the ring later this year, has died. He was 46.
No immediate cause of death was given for Hatton, but the BBC reported that Greater Manchester Police confirmed in a statement Sunday that a body was discovered at a home in Hyde following a call from a neighbor, but “the death is not being treated as suspicious.”
Nicknamed “The Hitman,” Hatton’s professional career spanned from 1997-2012, and his lifetime record of 45-3 included championships as a light-welterweight and welterweight and 43 consecutive wins before late losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. (in 2007 in Las Vegas), Manny Pacquiao and Vyacheslav Senchenko.
Hatton has been very open in retirement about battles with depression, mental-health issues, alcohol and drugs, but he had been in training for a scheduled comeback bout as a middleweight against Eisa Al Dah in Dubai in December.
“I was coming off the rails with my drinking and that led to drugs. It was like a runaway train,” he told BBC radio in 2016, according to Reuters.
Hatton famously was a massive supporter of Manchester City FC and was close friends with Noel and Liam Gallagher of the band Oasis.
Man City announced it would honor Hatton before Sunday’s derby match against rival Manchester United.
British boxing icons Tyson Fury and Amir Khan also were among those to post tributes to Hatton on social media.
“RIP to the legend Ricky Hatton, may he RIP. There will only ever be one Ricky Hatton. Can’t believe this, so young,” Fury wrote on Instagram.
“Today we lost not only one of Britain’s greatest boxers, but a friend, a mentor, a warrior,” Khan posted on X. “As fighters, we tell ourselves we’re strong — we train, we sweat, we take hits, we get up.
“But sometimes the hardest fight happens in silence, in the mind. Mental health isn’t weakness. It’s part of being human. And we must talk about it. We must reach out. We must lean on each other.”
