RICKY HUTTON FUNERAL: SON CAMPBELL PAYS AN EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE TO IN MEMORIAL SERVICE

A funeral procession started at the Cheshire Cheese pub and was led by the famous Reliant Robin van from Only Fools and Horses.

The coffin of Ricky Hatton is carried into Manchester Cathedral, by his brother Matthew Hatton, front right, and son Campbell Hatton, front left (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

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 will head to the Etihad Stadium, the home of Hatton’s beloved Manchester City.

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.

- David Charlesworth

KOSTYA, TIM TSZYU SHARE EMOTIONAL REUNION ON EVE OF THE TITLE FIGHT

Tim Tszyu [R] faces a huge fight against Bakhram Murtazaliev this weekend Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

With 14 heartfelt words, the great Kostya Tszyu has buried the myth that he has been estranged from his sons for more than a decade as Australian boxing's royal family finally came together in Florida.

Tszyu was a surprising and conspicuous presence after gatecrashing the official pre-fight press conference for Tim's IBF super-welterweight showdown on Sunday with Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev, stealing the show from his world title-chasing eldest child.

Not expected in until hours later, the 55-year-old Hall of Famer shocked Tim from behind with a familiar fatherly massage, then greeted younger son Nikita in the flesh for the first time in 11 years with a long, emotional embrace.

"They are in my heart every second. They are in my thoughts every second," said Tszyu, who left Australia some 15 years ago and returned to his native Russia, starting a new life and new family.

"I've seen them regularly, nearly on the phone every day. But of course, it's not the same.

"I'm sure we'll have a great, great time here together."

Tszyu hasn't been ringside for any of his boys' combined 35 professional bouts since Tim's debut in 2016.

Tim has repeatedly recalled that night at the SCG a "circus", branding his father a "pain in the arse" as he screamed out instructions uncontrollably.

All has been forgiven, with the former unified world champ given a front-row seat for Tim's date with destiny at the Caribe Royale Orlando resort.

Tszyu, though, cannot promise he will be able to contain himself watching on live for the first time in nine years.

"I don't know how I will be," he said.

"I'm alright now. I'm not nervous now but I'm not sure what's going to happen tomorrow.

"I will try - maybe it's not right to do, maybe - but I'll put extra pressure on that guy (Murtazaliev).

Surprise surprise! @KostyaTszyu arrives early to be there for @Tim_Tszyu's world title press conference in Orlando. #TszyuMurtazaliev pic.twitter.com/atQkeRaIsb

— No Limit Boxing (@NoLimit_Boxing) October 17, 2024

"I'm sorry, my friend, but I'll do it."

Team Tszyu will be hoping there is no repeat of the fiasco in Las Vegas in March when Tim suffered the first defeat of his career, a controversial split-decision loss after an accidental elbow from Sebastian Fundora left the Sydneysider with a gaping head wound.

"Thank God I wasn't there because I don't know what would I do during that fight," Tszyu said.

"The referee is supposed to stop the fight, not (the) corner.

"It's a referee and the way he was bleeding non-stop, many countries would stop the fight."

The outcome of this fight could send Tim Tszyu to either the top or the bottom of the boxing world.

Tim said his father told him two hours earlier that he would not be at Friday's press conference.

"It was typical, man. I'm sort of used to it now," the 29-year-old said of Tszyu's unexpected appearance.

- AAP

RICKY HUTTON, MICHAEL MOORER INDUCTED INTO BOXING HALL PF FAME

Michael Moorer, right, in his IBF heavyweight world championship boxing match against Germany's Axel Schulz. AP Photo/Christof Stache, File

 Ricky Hatton laughed his way through his Hall of Fame induction speech, marveling at the places boxing took him and the thousands of his fans that would always follow.

"I had some wars, didn't I?" Hatton said Sunday. "When I think back at the Kostya Tszyu fight, Floyd Mayweather fight, Manny Pacquiao fight and my toughest fight, my divorce."

Michael Moorer took a more serious tone with a plea for safer conditions for boxers during and after their careers.

Hatton and Moorer, both champions in two weight classes, were the headline names when the International Boxing Hall of Fame class of 2024 was inducted during a ceremony at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.

Moorer won the light heavyweight title in just his 12th pro fight and later moved up to become the first southpaw heavyweight champion. Noting the size of present-day heavyweights who sometimes weigh more than 250 pounds, with former champion Tyson Fury fighting above 270, Moorer called for the advent of a super heavyweight division.

Moorer, who went 52-4-1 with 40 knockouts, said he has undergone 28 surgeries and been left without the ability to smell or taste. He said it was imperative for boxing's sanctioning bodies, managers and promoters to prioritize the welfare of fighters.

"The toll on a fighter's body persists long after they hang up their gloves," Moorer said. "I am just one of the many retired fighters who have been left to deal with a long list of injuries without any meaningful insurance assistance."

Ivan Calderon and Diego Corrales, who died in 2007 two years after rallying in a memorable 10th round to beat Jose Luis Castillo in boxing's "Fight of the Year," were the other headline fighters in the class that will be enshrined in the hall's museum in Canastota, New York.

Calderon, a two-division champion from Puerto Rico who still works with fighters from there, noted the presence of the heads of three boxing organizations, who were also Latin American.

"So they're here like a family and I'd like them to keep on working like a family for all these boxers," Calderon said. "That's what we need. We need a family. All together we can do a lot of things."

Women's champions Jane Couch of Britain -- who fought to allow women to box at home -- and Ana Maria Torres of Mexico were elected from the women's modern category. Luis Angel Firpo in the old-timer category and Theresa Kibby in the women's trailblazer category were the other fighters in the class.

Trainer Kenny Adams, Jackie Kallen -- the first female manager inducted -- longtime publicist Fred Sternburg, broadcaster Nick Charles and journalist Wallace Matthews rounded out the 13-member class. Matthews noted his preference for boxing over other sports he covered because of what fighters endure.

"There is a code among boxers -- 'We will fight until we can't fight anymore' -- and there's no other sport where that happens," Matthews said. "There ain't no timeout, there ain't no tapping out, there's no relief pitcher, you're not skating off the ice for a shift change. That's it. Once you're in there, you're on the ship, you're taking the ride until the very end."

It was quite a ride for Hatton, the Manchester, England, product who upset Tszyu in 2005 to rise to the top of the junior welterweight division and would lose high-profile welterweight fights in Las Vegas against Mayweather and Pacquiao. He recalled the thousands of his fans who flew from Europe for those weeks -- saying there were so many that the MGM Grand once ran out of beer -- just the way they supported him at home.

Now they can see Hatton (45-3, 32 KOs) hang in the Hall of Fame, where he said he became emotional when he saw that his plaque will hang two away from Roberto Duran, the fighter who was his hero.

"I always said my fan base was my greatest-ever achievement," Hatton said, "so it's been great to spend the weekend with the fans."

- Associated Press