Ricky Hatton, the hearty British boxer who rose to stardom and fought Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, died Sunday. He was 46.
Hatton was discovered useless at his residence in Manchester, authorities stated. Police stated his dying was not thought-about suspicious.
“A true champion, an indomitable spirit, and a legend of the sport,” the World Boxing Affiliation wrote on social media. “Your legacy will live on in every fight and in the hearts of boxing fans around the world.”
Hatton started his boxing profession 43-0, profitable title belts at two weight lessons throughout the early 2000s. But it surely was his fashion not his file that endeared him to followers on each side of the Atlantic. Hatton prided himself on “all-action” fights, continuously shifting ahead with a barrage of punches.
“You’ll never be bored out of your skull watching a Ricky Hatton fight,” he informed ESPN in 2007. “I have a very high work rate, I never take a backward step. I take on all comers.”
Welterweight boxer Ricky Hatton of Nice Britain on the Mottram and Hattersley ABC in Manchester, England, in 1999. (John Gichigi /Allsport through Getty Photographs)
Hatton was additionally beloved for staying true to his working class roots. At the same time as he turned essentially the most well-known British boxer on the earth, he skilled at a sparse gymnasium above a carpet manufacturing unit. When he walked out for his struggle towards Mayweather, his gown included an advert for his dad’s carpet store.
After struggling his first profession defeat to Mayweather, Hatton obtained one other primetime bout towards Pacquiao in 2009 however was knocked out within the second spherical.
“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,” one other British ex-champion, Amir Khan, wrote on social media Sunday. “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.”
Ricky Hatton beats Jon Thaxton within the Mild-Welterweight contest at Wembley in London on Oct. 21, 2000. (John Gichigi /Allsport through Getty Photographs)
However Hatton put his life again collectively by 2012, launched an inspiring comeback and returning to the ring. Although he misplaced to Vyacheslav Senchenko within the ninth spherical, Hatton thought-about it a victory to easily struggle once more.
“It’s been well documented what’s happened to me since the last time I’ve been in a boxing ring,” he informed the BBC forward of the struggle. “It’s about more than money, this comeback. People say nice things about me but they don’t know what’s been going on in between my ears.”
After lastly hanging up the gloves, Hatton labored as a coach and promoter. His most notable success was teaching Zhanat Zhakiyanov to a world bantamweight title in 2017.
Ricky Hatton at Manchester Area in 2018. (Picture by Alex Livesey/Getty Photographs)
Not too long ago, Hatton introduced plans for an additional comeback with an exhibition struggle in Dubai in December. Days earlier than his dying, he shared movies of himself coaching on Instagram.
“Rip to the legend Ricky Hatton,” former heavyweight champ Tyson Fury wrote on social media. “There will only ever be 1 Ricky Hatton.”
