Iconic boxer Ricky Hatton will be laid to rest today after the former world welterweight and light-welterweight champion was found dead at his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester, last month, aged 46, sending the nation into mourning.
A procession will start at Gee Cross and pass through Hyde towards Manchester Cathedral. Following a private service, the cortege will move on to the Etihad Stadium, home of Hatton’s beloved Manchester City.
The Cheshire Cheese pub on Stockport Road, Hyde, will mark the beginning of the procession around 9.45am, before proceeding to Harehill Tavern. A series of stops will include The New Inn, where doves will be released, Hatton’s Gym, Hyde Town Hall, Betta Bodies Gym, and the AO Arena.
The Cathedral will host a private memorial service from 12pm. From there, the procession will move to the Etihad Stadium, where the boxer’s son, Campbell, was moved to tears by a touching tribute before the game against Burnley.
Members of the public will be able to pay their respects as the funeral cortege makes its way to the cathedral. The service, however, will be a private affair.
The crowd burst into applause as the hearse carrying Ricky’s coffin arrived at the Cheshire Cheese.
A van with a yellow – Del Boy Trotter – Robin Reliant led the procession, while sky blue flags were held out lining the route. Fans burst into song chanting: “There’s only one Ricky Hatton … walking in a Hatton wonderland.”
Ricky’s body was carried in a Man City blue coffin with Blue Moon engraved on the side. Ricky’s friend James Bowes, 36, was also outside the pub. “I went to every fight with him, I even went to Las Vegas. I used to carry his belts into the ring to Blue Moon.
“If it wasn’t for him, I would never have got to go to the fights. Ricky was my best friend. I just wish he was still here to see all this and what he meant to people. He’ll always be my only fighter, even when there were other celebrities in the room, it was only Ricky.” He added: “people used to ask me if the belts were heavy. But not for me.”
A book of condolence is open at Hyde Town Hall until tomorrow for those wishing to pay tribute to the former boxing world champion. The book will then be presented to Hatton’s family.
The cortege will start from Gee Cross and pass through Hyde towards Manchester Cathedral, before reaching the Etihad Stadium, home of Hatton’s beloved Manchester City.
The procession is set to commence at the Cheshire Cheese pub on Stockport Road, Hyde, around 9.45am, before proceeding to Harehill Tavern. Doves will be released at its next stop, The New Inn. Further stops along the route include Hatton’s Gym, Hyde Town Hall, Betta Bodies Gym, and the AO Arena.
A private memorial service will be held at the cathedral from 12pm, after which the procession will move to the Etihad Stadium, where the boxer’s son, Campbell, was recently moved to tears by a touching tribute before the game against Burnley.
Although the service is invitation-only, members of the public will be able to pay their respects as the funeral cortege makes its way to the cathedral.
Around 200 people have gathered outside the Cheshire Cheese pub ahead of Ricky Hatton’s funeral procession.
The pub – just down the road from where the boxing champ’s home, where his body was found last month – is adorned with flags bearing Ricky’s name and in the colors of his beloved Man City, while blue balloons also line the road. Landlord Tony Cooper, 57, said: “this was his local, his home from home.
Fighting back tears, he added: “He’d come in with his friends for a Guinness, watch the football, and just be himself. He was a nice genuine man; it’s such a loss.”
The village of Gee Cross is also decked out in sky blue flags and bunting. Local Niall Aspray arrived at 9am. He said: “I had to come down and pay my respects. I wish he was still here. Everyone around Hyde knew him; he was a local lad and always had time for everyone. I think the numbers here already show how much everyone loved him. You’d always see him round and about; it’s so sad.”
The funeral cortège will travel around many of Ricky’s favorite haunts before arriving at Manchester Cathedral at 12pm.
Ricky Hatton’s son Campbell says the family is still trying to come to terms with his father’s unexpected death which has left them “heartbroken.”
“We are absolutely heartbroken – it was so unexpected… We had so many plans coming up, so it has