Ex-boxing champ Ricky Hatton seemed "fine" when his family last saw him just days before he passed, the inquest heard.
At the inquest opening on Thursday, October 16, 2025, Ricky Hatton's initial cause of death came out as hanging.
The information emerged during a brief 10-minute hearing, where Alison Mutch, senior coroner for Manchester South, opened and adjourned the inquiry into the popular former boxer's death until March 20 next year.
The icon of British boxing, 46-year-old Ricky Hatton, who inspired a generation, was found dead at his home in Greater Manchester on Saturday, September 12, 2025.
The court was informed that Hatton was last seen by his family on September 12, 2025, when he "appeared well."
But the next day, he skipped an event he was supposed to hit up, and on the morning of September 14, his manager Paul Speak rolled up to his place to shuttle him to Manchester Airport for a Dubai flight. Hatton was discovered unconscious.
To pay tribute to the late boxing legend Ricky Hatton, thousands of his fans packed the streets in Manchester.
Stars like Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, boxers Tommy Fury and Tyson showed up for the private memorial service at Manchester Cathedral, last Friday.
The Greater Manchester Police had confirmed earlier that “officers were called by a member of the public (whose identity has not been revealed) to his house in Hyde, Tameside, on Sunday morning at 6:45 am, where they found the body of a 46-year-old man,” a Greater Manchester Police spokesperson told the BBC.
Beyond the ring, Hatton was always open about his battles with depression and drug addiction. He spoke publicly about drug use and depression.
These events cast a long shadow on his family too, but in the preceding years, he coped with his mental health issues, which is evident from the fact that he had announced the plans for a comeback to the ring with a fight that was set for December this year.
Hatton fought a total of 48 professional bouts, of which he won 45, in a career that spanned over 15 years. Ricky Hatton made his debut at Widnes in 1997.
He won two world titles in two divisions (lightweight and welterweight) against Kostya Tszyu in June 2005 and Jose Luis Castillo in June 2007.
It was in 2007, when Hatton lost for the first time in his career against Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
However, Hatton made a stunning comeback a year later, before a supercharged crowd in his hometown Manchester City’s Stadium against Manny Pacquiao in 2009, but lost inside two rounds.
Hatton then took a four-year break from 2009 to 2012 but made a comeback to the ring in 2012 against Vyacheslav Senchenko but lost and announced his retirement after that defeat.
Ricky Hatton, in July this year, had announced his comeback; here he was set to fight against Eisa Al Dah on December 2, 2025, but God has other plans.
He was a candid and approachable personality that’s the reason he always maintained a strong bond with his fanbase, who often packed stadiums and arenas to support him.
Hatton’s passing has left the boxing community in shock, but his legacy will be remembered as that of Britain’s most popular fighter among the modern greats of the game.