Liam Gallagher, Tyson Fury and Wayne Rooney arrived at Manchester Cathedral on Friday for the funeral of former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton.
Hatton, a popular, larger-than-life character who unified the light-welterweight division and also won a world welterweight title, was found dead aged 46 at his home in Hyde on Sept. 14.
A funeral procession started on Friday morning at the Cheshire Cheese pub — Hatton’s local — and was led by the famous Reliant Robin van from Only Fools and Horses. Hatton was a huge fan of the show and once bought one of the original three-wheelers for £4,000.
The cortege included stops at Hatton’s boxing gym and the AO Arena, where he enjoyed some of his finest moments, the highlight indisputably being a win over the celebrated Kostya Tszyu on a raucous night 20 years ago to capture his first world title.
Thousands of mourners lined the streets to pay tribute to Hatton, with a private memorial service at the city’s cathedral starting at midday.
In attendance was Oasis frontman Gallagher, a long-time friend of Hatton who accompanied him on his ring walk once against Paulie Malignaggi in 2008.
The great and good of British boxing also turned out, with Fury, Tony Bellew and Frank Bruno, as well as former England cricket captain Andrew Flintoff and former Manchester United star Rooney, arriving at the cathedral.
Also among the mourners was Hatton’s former trainer Billy Graham, from whom he was virtually inseparable on his journey from the amateur ranks to the top of the boxing world.
Following the service, the commemorative march made its way to the Etihad Stadium, the home of Hatton’s beloved Manchester City.
News of Hatton’s death was announced just hours before the Manchester derby at Eastlands, with a minute’s applause held immediately ahead of kick-off by players and fans of both City and United.
Hatton’s all-action style brought him 45 wins and three defeats from 48 contests, but it was his down-to-earth demeanour that especially endeared him to fellow professionals and fans around the world.
That was evidenced by tens of thousands following him to Las Vegas, where he fought the two pound-for-pound greatest fighters of his era in Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, with stories of UK fans singing ‘there’s only one Ricky Hatton’ and drinking Sin City dry going down in boxing folklore.
Hatton suffered his first professional defeat when he was stopped by Mayweather in 2007, while a vicious second-round knockout by Pacquiao two years later precipitated his fall from top-level boxing.
A misguided comeback attempt against Vyacheslav Senchenko in 2012 marked the first public admission Hatton was struggling to cope in retirement.
He was a tireless ambassador for mental health charities as well as Manchester-based Barnabus, which supports homeless and vulnerable people, and turned his hand to being a successful trainer in an attempt to fill the void.
Having participated in a no-scoring exhibition against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022, Hatton announced in July he would return to the ring in a professional bout in Dubai in December.
He had resumed training and his family said he had been “in a good place” and “excited for the future” before his death, for which Greater Manchester Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.