Ricky Hatton funeral: Son Campbell pays an emotional tribute in memorial service

Ricky Hatton’s son Campbell paid an emotional tribute to the former two-weight world champion at his funeral in Manchester, saying: “I can’t explain how much I’m going to miss you, dad.”

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 September 14.

Campbell Hatton, who followed his father into boxing and won 14 of his 16 professional fights before retiring this year, said at the memorial service: “I can’t explain how much I’m going to miss you, dad, and that we won’t be making any new memories – but the ones we did I will cherish for ever.”

A funeral procession started at 9.45am 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 in Manchester to pay tribute to Hatton, with a private memorial service at the city’s cathedral starting at midday.

In attendance was Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, a long-time friend of Hatton who accompanied him on his ring walk alongside brother Noel against Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas in 2008.

The great and good of British boxing also turned out, with 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, 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.

Hatton’s mother Carol said in a statement read on her behalf at the service: “‘The Hitman’ was adored by his army of fans – the People’s Champion, and he would say that’s how he would want to be remembered.

“Long before this accolade he was our little champion from the day he was born.”

Following the service, the commemorative march headed to the Etihad Stadium, the home of Hatton’s beloved Manchester City, where the cortege paused as hundreds of fans sang the club’s anthem ‘Blue Moon’ and ‘There’s Only One Ricky Hatton’.

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.