The boxing world is in shock after learning that former boxing champion Ricky Hatton was found dead in his home this morning at just 46 years of age.
Details are scarce but the police are not indicating foul play.
“Officers were called by a member of the public to attend Bowlacre Road, Hyde, Tameside, at 6.45am today where they found the body of a 46-year-old man,” a report from Greater Manchester Police read. “There are not currently believed to be any suspicious circumstances.”
While at this point
there is no indication of his cause of death, Hatton does have a history of depression and often talked candidly about attempting suicide in the years after his boxing retirement.
“I tried to kill myself several times,” he said nine years ago. “I used to go to the pub, come back, take the knife out and sit there in the dark crying hysterically.”
Hatton retired in 2012 with a 45-3 record, having won multiple light-welterweight organizational belts. Over the years he became a fan favorite in the U.K. and around the world for his aggressive straight-on fighting style. That earned him a big-money fight against Floyd Mayweather in 2007 that saw him lose via 10th round TKO.
Two wins later, and he’d fight Manny Pacquiao in a 2009 fight that was good for his bank account if not his record. He was knocked out cold at the end of the second round with a huge right hook. In 2012 he’d try to return to action but another KO loss to Vyacheslav Senchenko convinced him not to continue.
Hatton packed on the weight following his retirement and used to joke about being “Ricky Fatton,” but dropped all the extra pounds in 2022. Recently it was announced that Hatton would return to the ring for an exhibition fight in Dubai in December. Footage of Hatton in the gym preparing showed up online just days before his body was found.
