Ricky Hatton MBE has become the latest British fighter to have his picture on the wall of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in New York.
‘The Hitman’ was a two-weight world champion following a short but successful amateur career, going undefeated in his first 43 bouts before coming up against one Floyd Mayweather.
Hatton would also lose to Manny Pacquiao and Vyacheslav Senchenko in his final fight, hanging up the gloves with an impressive record of 43 wins and three defeats. He returned to the ring last this year for an exhibition with friend and fellow fighting legend Marco Antonio Barrera.
The Stockport-born fan-favourite put Manchester on his back for his five trips to Las Vegas, a stoppage win over feared puncher José Luis Castillo the standout moment on that side of the pond rivalled by a hard-fought fairytale victory against Kosta Tszyu back home in Manchester.
The public resonated with Hatton’s everyman tale, and rallied behind him both in defeat and during struggles outside of the ropes. He has stayed around the sport as a trainer, promoter and pundit.
From this side of the Atlantic, Hatton joins Carl Froch, Lennox Lewis, Ken Buchanan, Ireland’s Barry McGuigan, Randy Turpin, Naseem Hamed and Joe Calzaghe.
Alongside Hatton on this year’s list is Jane Couch MBE, Michael Moorer, Ivan Calderon, Diego Corrales, Ana Maria Torres, Kenny Adams, Luis Firpo and Theresa Kibby.