Boxing world pays tribute as Hatton found dead at 46

RICKY Hatton, who rose from a carpet shop in Manchester to win world titles at two different weights and captivate the boxing world, has died at the age of 46.

- MARK STANIFORTH

Hatton, who announced in July that he would return to the ring in a professional bout in Dubai in December, was found dead at his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious.

A police spokesperson said: "Officers were called by a member of the public to attend Bowlacre Road, Hyde, Tameside, at 6.45am [yesterday] where they found the body of a 46-year-old man.

"There are not currently believed to be any suspicious circumstances."

Hatton’s all-action style and down-to-earth demeanour made him one of the most popular fighters on both side of the Atlantic in the first decade of the new century.

Fellow fighters and boxing figures mourned his loss, with fellow former world champion Amir Khan describing him as “a mentor, warrior and one of Britain’s greatest boxers”.