Ricky Hatton: The heart and soul behind a boxing wonderland - P6
- Shidonna Raven
- 1 day ago
- 1 min read
By Tris Dixon
This Article has been curated by UDBN
September 25, 2025
Source: Boxing Scene
“Not a bit of it,” he said. “Now I’m a trainer, if they [his fighters] did what I did, I’ll wring their necks. But I wouldn’t change it for anything because I was the little runt, the little scally from Manchester, ‘Look at him, he’s losing three stone, look at him in the pub, look at him at the [football] match [where he sat amongst the fans], look at him with a pint and a Bovril,’ ‘We’ll go and watch him.’ Because I related to the fans that would come and watch me. I was just one of them. I wouldn’t change anything for the world.”
The fans were there en masse on June 4, 2005, in the early hours for US TV, at the MEN Arena, where Hatton scored his most magnificent win against Kostya Tszyu, who was withdrawn before the 12th round could start. It took place in front of a crowd so invested you could have closed your eyes and known what was happening.
“The dream is made real,” bellowed the iconic British commentator, Ian Darke, as Ricky and Billy sobbed in celebration.
“It’s like I’ll never wake up from the dream,” Ricky told me 15 years later. “I remember everything about it.”
The way he won also meant the world to him.
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