Thousands of people gathered in the streets of Manchester to pay their respects to Ricky Hatton, the British boxer who passed away last September aged 46. Hatton was one of the best boxers of his generation, the same of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and arguably the best British boxer of all time, with World titles in light-welterweight and welterweight division, and was expected to make a comeback this year.
His sudden death shocked the world of boxing, and particularly the city of Manchester, where Hatton was an icon. Proof of that is that thousands of people gathered to follow the procession through the streets of Manchester, which crossed several important places for Hatton, like Cheshire Cheese pub, Harehill Tavern or The New Inn, where Hatton used to go, the Hatton's Gym and the Etihad Stadium for Manchester City, the football club Hatton supported, before going to Manchester's cathedral.
The funeral cortege was led by the van from the 1981 sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Hatton was such a big fan that he bought the van and used to drive around the city, as reported by BBC.
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Many of his former boxing colleagues attended the funeral, like Frazer Clarke and Natasha Jonas, brothers Tyson and Tommy Fury, former boxers Amir Khan, Scott Welch, Frank Bruno, Barry McGuigan and Anthony Crolla. Other attenddess include Liam Gallagher from Oasis, of which Hatton was a big fan, as well as former Mannchester United striker Wayne Rooney, comedian Paddy McGuinness and actor Dean Gaffney.
Beyond his boxing skills, Ricky Hatton was respected for his charisma, kindness and advocacy for mental health, after struggling with depression. One of his last video appearances was a video sent to a 10 year old kid who was being bullied at school.