Ricky Hatton

Richard John Hatton (6 October 1978 – c. 14 September 2025), also known by nicknames such as "The Hitman", "The Pride of Hyde" and the "People's Champion", was a British professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and later worked as a boxing promoter and trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world championships in the light-welterweight division, and one at welterweight. In 2005 he was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine, the Boxing Writers Association of America, ESPN, and BoxingScene.

In 2000 Hatton won the British light welterweight title, followed by the World Boxing Union (WBU) title the following year; he made a record fifteen successful defences of the latter from 2001 to 2004. He reached the pinnacle of his career in 2005 by defeating Kostya Tszyu for the International Boxing Federation (IBF), Ring and lineal titles. This was followed up later that year with a victory over Carlos Maussa to claim the World Boxing Association (WBA) title (Super version), thereby becoming a unified light-welterweight world champion.