Ricky Hatton was estranged from his heartbroken parents at the time of his death, after a bitter fallout over money, a punch-up in a car park and a row over access to grandchildren.
The Stockport-born father and grandfather was found dead at his Greater Manchester home aged 46, just weeks after dramatically announcing his return to the ring.
Aside from a brief reconciliation in 2019, Ricky had fallen out with his parents Carol, 72, and Ray Hatton, 74, over ‘missing’ money, and their estrangement caused the former world champion to, in his own words, ‘hit rock bottom’.
In a 2022 interview with the BBC, following his crushing defeat to boxing great Manny Pacquiao, he referred to the impact of the family fallout, saying: ‘I just went on the war path. I was suicidal. I tried killing myself several times, but couldn’t do it. So then I thought to myself, “I will drink and drug myself to death”.’
Although he reconciled with his parents in 2019, their uneasy truce fell apart again in 2023 when a documentary resurfaced allegations that ‘millions’ of pounds had gone missing from Ricky’s fortune – and that his father was to blame.
The boxer never went into details about the financial dispute but said that he and Ray knew ‘exactly what happened and why it is an issue’.
‘I said I needed him to do certain things that I thought were fair or lose me,’ he said. ‘Whatever his reasons he chose his path and he has to live by his choices, as do I and my family.’
