Ricky Hatton has never been a polished type of star. It was not created for velvet ropes or supple tributes. He was a manchester to the bone-loyal, steadfast working class. And four days before his death at the age of 46, he said, most importantly for him, he wanted to be remembered as “one of the boys.”
The man we knew Hitman He was found dead at his house in Manchester on Sunday, September 14. The shock was broken by British boxing and more. He spent decades, throwing hooks that made the arenas shake, but what he wanted was no more belts or headers. It belonged – beloved like Frank Bruno, loved by his own city and accepted by fans who saw him.
He added: “I would prefer to be Ricky Hatton than the greatest in history, but everyone thinks I’m advertising.” For a warrior who packed 22,000 on the men’s arena and 30,000 in Las Vegas, he says it all. People remember me as a hell warrior, but also one of the boys. “
Fame has never changed the kid from the property
Hatton told Barker that his life remained close to his roots even after glory. “Life has changed for me, my children and my family when I defeated Kostya Teszyu. But I don’t think I changed too much. Even today, the salary I lead, and the house I have is only 10 minutes from the council’s assets.
“Even with all the frigid things that I achieved through boxing, I still go to local and play darts on Monday evening and play football for veterinarians on Sunday afternoon. My colleagues are now the same colleagues with whom I went to school, without slow newcomers, always the same colleagues.”
This stubborn loyalty – towards pubs, partners, to Manchester City, to the same venerable streets – was what the fans felt. He was a hero who could enter every pub and did not have to buy a mug. Children who have never seen how he fights live, still stop him for photos because they saw clips and sensed reality.
Fighting with your own shadows, helping others with them
Hatton did not hide this life after boxing. Losses for Mayweather and Pacquiao left scars and then depression. But he refused to stay. He got aid. Then he used his pain to aid others.
“I didn’t want to tell my colleagues or family, I didn’t want to worry them, so I kept it,” he told Barker. “I entered the gym or in a pub and I was the life and soul of the party, even more than normal, because I tried to excessively compensate for what was happening in me.
“Nobody knew and it was very arduous. I thought I could sort it, but I couldn’t. The best thing I did was that I realized that I could beat him or him, I could do it or do it, but I couldn’t sort it myself and I had to talk to someone and the best thing I did.
“You feel that you can talk to a stranger better than your family or friends. You don’t go to boys – and I have good colleagues – but you don’t feel like that. I did with my mother and dad and I split with my Missus and I didn’t want to worry about the rest of the family. So you keep it and I didn’t hold it.”
After obtaining aid, Hatton used his experience to aid others. “Some of my boxers tell me that they repaid their mortgages and thanked me – that’s what it is about,” he said. Letters came from people who heard his story and found hope. This gave him the goal: “It makes me feel good that I helped others.”
A warrior who never left us
Hatton did not want statues or saint. He wanted to be a boy from the street who made him huge, but he never looked at anyone. It’s uncommon in boxing – or anywhere. Or maybe that’s why the news of his death crosses so deeply.
He survived brutal nights, public defeats, private battles, and he still found strength to tell an intimidated child to keep his chin a few days before leaving. If this is not the size, what is it?
Rest straightforward, Ricky. You were one of us – and you will always be one of the boys.
Watch a full interview:
Amy Kaplan is a box of boxing since she was 10 years venerable, which means that she spent most of her life, explaining to people that yes, they really prefer nights of fighting at parties. Now, writing to Boxing News 24, it covers everything from the fight for the title of world champion to perspectives swinging as at the day of payment. It combines acute analysis with sarcasm, calling for boxing policy and crossing the spin with the release of the press to give fans stories that actually matter.
Terence Crawford has been hailed by many as the best fighter of this generation following his retirement, and now WBC welterweight title hopeful Conor Benn has shared how he thinks ‘Bud’ would have fared against six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya.
Crawford became boxing’s sixth five-division world champion with an iconic win over Canelo Alvarez back in September; joining Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in that elite and exclusive club reserved only for legends of the sport.
Of that group, only De La Hoya and Pacquiao have gone on to conquer a sixth division, with De La Hoya’s 2004 WBO middleweight world title win over Felix Sturm seeing the Californian become the first boxer to ever become a sextuple champion.
Crawford could have joined ‘’The Golden Boy’ and ‘Pac-Man’ in achieving that feat, having been offered a middleweight world title shot during the aftermath of his triumph over Canelo late last year – a proposal which later fell apart due to a failed doping test by Janibek Alimkhanuly.
Continuing the praise that the Omaha-born southpaw has received since announcing his retirement last December, Benn told Daily Mail Boxing that he would favour the undefeated star to get the better of De La Hoya, if they were to meet in their primes.
Benn also went on to predict that Crawford would retain his unbeaten streak against other greats of the game, picking him to come out on top against each of Mayweather, Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker and Roberto Duran.
Top trainer and former world champion Robert Garcia has considered the outcome of a fantasy showdown between Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao.
The two generational greats reportedly came close to squaring off in 2021, back when Crawford was the WBO welterweight champion and ‘Pac Man’ held the WBA title.
Their unification match never materialised, though, as Pacquiao was scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr before ‘The Truth’ pulled out with a torn retina.
Instead, the Filipino legend ended up losing his WBA title to Yordenis Ugas at a stage when, while still serviceable, he was quite clearly past his best.
Crawford, meanwhile, was hitting top form around this time, just a few fights away from producing arguably a career-best performance against Spence.
He did, of course, manage to stop his welterweight rival in nine rounds, before moving up to 168lbs and becoming a three-division undisputed champion by dethroning Canelo Alvarez last September.
Based on those two performances, coach Garcia has told ESNEWS that he would favour ‘Bud’ to defeat even a prime version of Pacquiao.
“The Crawford that beat Spence – and the Crawford that beat Canelo – would probably beat Manny.”
While Crawford’s prime almost certainly came during his run of eight stoppages at welterweight, it is harder to pinpoint when Pacquiao ultimately reached his peak.
In terms of his most destructive performance at world level, however, many will point towards his second-round finish over Ricky Hatton in 2009.
While facing the ‘Hitman’ at 140lbs, Pacquiao would cement himself as a formidable welterweight champion soon after, dethroning Miguel Cotto with a 12th-round stoppage for the WBO title.
Former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk has been left between a rock and a hard place afterhis promotional contract with Zuffa Boxing has been terminated.
The Ukrainian dethroned long-reigning light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2018, scoring an 11th-round stoppage that left his opponent with a brain injury.
Gvozdyk then made a WBC title defence before losing to Artur Beterbievwho extended his ruthless surge with a 10th-round finish in their 2019 encounter.
Since that defeat, ‘The Nail’ suffered a unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez in 2024, before entering a perceived 50/50 contest against Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic in February.
With both making their Zuffa debut, the two veterans delivered a thrilling battle in which Gvozdyk scored two knockdowns and had built a sizable lead.
In round seven, though, the 39-year-old found himself on the canvas and was ultimately stopped on his feet after getting dropped a second time.
Given his overall performance, one would suspect he had done enough to justify another meaningful opportunity, yet Gvozdyk has since told vRINGe that he will no longer be fighting under the Zuffa banner.
“They terminated the contract in February after a loss. That is, every promoter has the option that if a boxer loses, they have the right to terminate the contract. That’s exactly what they did. After the fight, everyone was saying how great it was. That everything was great. I rested. I started preparing as planned – somewhere around May. And then, around April, they told me I’d received an email terminating the contract.”
This is because his contract has been terminated, while Kalajdzic’s next outing with Dana White’s promotional outfit is confirmed for September 26 against Craig Richards.
As for Gvozdyk, it is difficult to predict what will come next but, at the age of 39, one would suspect that he is close to hanging up the gloves.
Still, he could hardly have been happy to part ways with Zuffa, which also terminated its contract with Robert Meriwether following his defeat to Tony Hirsch Jr in April.
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