Former world boxing champion Ricky Hatton died by suspected hanging, inquest hears

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — An inquest into the death of former world boxing champion Ricky Hatton has disclosed that he likely died by hanging at his home on September 14, according to PA Media.

Manchester South senior coroner Alison Mutch told the inquest hearing that the provisional cause of death was hanging. The coroner’s court heard that Hatton had been found “unresponsive” by his manager Paul Speak at his home in Manchester on September 14.

Police previously did not announce a cause of death.

According to PA, the court heard that Hatton had last been seen by his family on September 12 and had appeared “well.”

But Hatton missed an appearance at an event a day later and his manager had arrived at his house on the morning of the 14th to take him to a flight to Dubai, where Hatton was found unresponsive.

The inquest into Hatton’s death was opened on Thursday and adjourned until March 20, 2026.

Hatton was nicknamed “The Hitman” and won world titles in both light-welterweight and welterweight classes during a career in which he fought the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Kostya Tszyu.

Remarkably, until his loss to Mayweather in 2007, he held a record of 43 victories and no defeats. He retired in 2012 with a record of 45 wins and three losses.

In recent years, the Brit had been open about his struggles with alcohol, drugs and depression. Nonetheless, Hatton was due to return to the ring later this year for a comeback fight against Eisa Al Dah in Dubai on December 2.

The news of Hatton’s death sparked an outpouring of tributes from across the boxing world, including from former world champions Amir Khan and Tyson Fury.

Fury was one of the thousands who attended a memorial service for Hatton on October 10 in Manchester. Fury was joined by Oasis singer Liam Gallagher and former England soccer player Wayne Rooney, among others.

An avid Manchester City fan, Hatton’s body was in a blue casket with the words “Blue Moon” written on the side, an homage to the famous song played before Manchester City games and which Hatton used as his ring-walk song.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Jamie Barton and Issy Ronald contributed to this report.