Former world boxing champion Ricky Hatton had a glittering 15-year career at the top of the sport.

The aggressive, brave fighter, known as ‘the Hitman’, held multiple world and UK titles, winning 45 of his 48 professional bouts. 

However, his journey began with modest roots. Born in Stockport in October 1978, he was raised on the Hattersley estate near Tameside, Greater Manchester.

His mother and father, Carol and Ray Hatton, owned four pubs, including the one on the estate – next door to the home of the Moors murderers. 

This was a stark contrast to the dazzling world of Las Vegas, where he found himself in 2007, facing one of the pivotal battles of his career against Floyd Mayweather.

Although he faced defeat against the American icon in what was one of his career’s major setbacks, Mr. Hatton also experienced numerous triumphs, including victories over Russia’s Kostya Tszyu and Mexico’s Jose Luis Castillo.

Following his tragic passing today at the age of 46, only weeks after announcing a notable comeback to boxing, fans are reminiscing about his remarkable ascent to fame.

The boxing legend was discovered at his Greater Manchester residence this morning, with a police cordon now in place outside. His death is not being considered suspicious.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: ‘Officers were called by a member of the public to attend Bowlacre Road, Hyde, Tameside, at 6:45am today where they found the body of a 46-year-old man. 

‘There are not currently believed to be any suspicious circumstances.’

The Daily Mail understands friends were initially concerned last night, when Mr Hatton – who would have turned 47 next month – did not appear at an event featuring one of his boxers.

After retiring from the ring, he had moved into coaching but announced in July he was due to return to the sport with a fight planned in December.

Just two days ago, Mr Hatton had shared footage of him training intensely with a punching bag as he readied himself for his comeback to boxing. 

He captioned it: ‘Thursday session in the bag. #hitman #bluemoon #getupthereboy.’ 

Mr Hatton, who was awarded an MBE for services to sport in 2007, had often spoken of his struggles with mental health and drug addiction, having survived several suicide attempts.

A huge Manchester City supporter, he was due to be at the Etihad Stadium for this afternoon’s derby with Manchester United, and had a table in a corporate hospitality area.

He has one son, Campbell, who retired from boxing at 24 to become a solar panel installer in July, and two daughters, Millie and Fearne. 

Mr Hatton has previously credited his upbringing, in and around his parents’ pubs, with instilling in him the hardworking attitude that drove his career. 

Though many of the punters were lovely, others were not, he has said. 

He saw his mother have to physically fight several customers over the years. 

And he witnessed others come in every day to get blind drunk. Even as a child, he knew that would not be him.

As a young lad, he would help out in the pub for pocket money along with his brother Matthew, stacking shelves, filling fridges and carrying crates up from the cellar. 

The old regulars loved to see Mr Hatton pull the odd pint – and they, with their witty banter, are who the athlete has previously credited his own foray into stand-up to.

They were there, too, when, aged 12, his parents installed a gym in the cellars for him, coming down to cheer him on as he hit the bag over and over. 

His father was also in the carpet fitting trade, which Mr Hatton worked with him on. 

He felt he was not necessarily suited to it – ‘it’s a miracle I’ve still got ten fingers!’, he told the Guardian in 2009 – but all the heavy lifting was good for his strength. 

The young athlete loved growing up on Hattersley, an overspill estate built in the sixties after slum clearance in the Ardwick, Gorton and Belle Vue areas of Manchester. 

‘Hattersley was like any other council estate, rough and ready, but with some of the nicest people you could hope to meet,’ he has previously said. 

‘They never had a lot but they were always happy.’ 

It came despite some dark ribbons through the history and reputation of the area. 

The surgery of the English doctor and serial killer Harold Shipman was just two minutes down the road, in the town of Hyde. 

Meanwhile, Moors murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady actually lived on Hattersley itself – right next door to the pub Mr Hatton’s parents owned. 

People used to point out the connection all the time when the Hattons first moved in as it was a common topic of discussion on the estate. 

The child serial killers’ property has since been knocked down, he said: ‘But in some ways Hattersley will always be remembered for that.’ 

As his star rose, Mr Hatton’s relationship with his parents, who encouraged him so much as a child, became more fractious. 

He was estranged from them for just under ten years until 2019, after a fight about money that had ended in a brawl with his father in a car park. 

Mr Hatton told the Manchester Evening News after their reconciliation he hit ‘rock bottom’ when the conflict first happened. 

‘I didn’t care whether I lived or died to be honest with you,’ he confessed. 

His life continued to be chaotic in the years that followed, with a News Of The World report he allegedly took cocaine in a hotel room and a falling out then making up with his trainer Billy Graham. 

He was worried how people would see him following the article and was simultaneously distressed by his then recent fight with his parents.

‘I’ve always been the local lad, boy done well, kid next door. I was a very poorly man… I didn’t care where I was, what I was doing or who I was with,’ he admitted. 

Having struggled with depression since childhood, he attempted suicide several times. 

One came after his loss to Floyd Mayweather in Vegas in 2007, which he struggled to deal with after a run of great success and amid the fallings out with his trainer and parents. 

Mr Hatton was partying hard during this period too, the life and soul during nights out in Manchester – before spending all his time at home crying. 

It was the birth of his daughter Millie in 2012 which encouraged him to get back on track. 

‘I held her in the hospital and I thought to myself, “It’s not about you, it’s about others”,’ he explained.  

And when friends of his began to lose their own parents, he realised the same could, any day, happen to him – and that it was therefore time to make amends with his. 

‘I thought to myself, “I’m 40 now, I’m at an age where our parents might not be here much longer”,’ he explained.

‘I just made the effort to think, “Listen, you know, let bygones be bygones, leave things in the past. That’s it”.’ 

He ended other old arguments, sought help for his mental health, became a boxing trainer and started taking better care of his physical health around this time too. 

People used to have respect for him, he said, for impressive fights out in glitzy Vegas – but later, their appreciation for him changed to focus on his community work, as patron of Manchester homeless charity Barnabus. 

And he always encouraged anyone struggling like him to seek help: ‘I think that’s the bravest move you can make.’ 

As his career went on, Mr Hatton moved out of Hattersley – but at the time of his tragic death today, he still lived less than five miles away, in Hyde. 

Hattersley has changed over the years, he has previously said, with multi-storey flats demolished to create a new block – Hatton Court, named after its star resident.

‘Every time I drive past I think of years gone by when I cut through the flats carrying my schoolbag. Now it’s named after me. Stuff like that makes you feel proud,’ he said.

Mr Hatton has previously said he always felt Hattersley would be his home and that he could never move out of the area he grew up in. 

In fact, the athlete often returned to his parents’ old pub to play darts with punters – where he was delighted to be treated like just a normal man.