Ricky Hatton’s only son decided to hang up his boxing gloves earlier this year, just months before his father’s death. The elder Hatton was found dead in his Greater Manchester home at the age of 46 on Sunday morning. Local police have confirmed that a body was found, adding that the death is not being treated as suspicious.
Hatton won a total of six world titles across three weight divisions and will be remembered as one of the best UK fighters of his generation. He would have turned 47 next month and leaves behind three children including his son Campbell, who also boxed professionally. The latter was being tipped as a future star before making the abrupt decision to retire aged just 24.
Campbell made his professional debut in 2021 and recorded his first knockout victory over Attila Csereklye later that year. He won all of his opening 14 fights before suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of James Flint in 2024.
He was outpointed on both occasions and spent time away from the ring before appointing his father as his trainer in March. However, just four months later, it was confirmed that he was retiring from boxing with immediate effect.
Ricky revealed the news on behalf of his son, who had been dealing with a personal tragedy behind the scenes.
“No, Campbell won’t fight again,” he told Boxing Now. “As you know, he didn’t have much amateur experience. He gave it a go in the amateurs, and then he went pro and gave it a go. He fought for the Area title and got beaten.
“I thought he lost it to be fair, but then he fought the same lad straight away after. I thought he won the second one. They were both very close fights.
“But he lost a little bit of his mojo, and then a few things went wrong. Sadly, he lost one of his best friends, Justin, who passed away at 27 years of age.”
Ricky also revealed that Campbell had already secured himself another job, insisting that he was proud of his son in spite of his short-lived boxing career.
He added: “I said, ‘Listen son, you should be very proud of yourself, you have given it a go, but if you have lost your mojo, you need to get out.’ You can’t play boxing, you can play any other sport. So I advised him, and now he is doing solar panels.”
The bombshell news of Ricky’s death has sent shockwaves around the sporting world, with many leading figures paying tribute on social media.