Noel Gallagher shares heartfelt tribute to Ricky Hatton: “A great Mancunian”
Noel Gallagher has paid tribute to his friend and fellow Mancunian, the late boxing world champion Ricky Hatton.
Tragically, Hatton, who is survived by his three children and a granddaughter, was discovered at his property in Greater Manchester on September 12th. He was 46. His death is not being treated as suspicious.
During an appearance on TalkSPORT Drive on September 18th, Noel told hosts Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent, “We were literally texting each other last week. I’d seen him at Heaton Park on a couple of the nights, and he was on standard Ricky form. He was wise-cracking with everyone, he was having a drink. He was great.”
While Gallagher stressed that “we don’t know what happened”, he highlighted that Hatton “struggled with his mental health” and described the sad situation as “such a shame”. He added of the late boxer, “A great Mancunian, and a lovely, lovely lad.”
The Oasis guitarist then reflected on the time he spent in Hatton’s company further, “We did a tour of South America, and he came along with all his mates for the week, and it was like he was part of the band for a week. It is a real shame for his family and his kids, and his grandkids. I was really gobsmacked by it.”
Gallagher continued, “He had an amazing career, and the night Liam and I carried his belts out in Vegas was one of the funniest nights ever. It was an honour for us to do that, but it was a funny night with him.”
The night that Gallagher is referring to is when him and Liam walked Hatton’s world titles to the ring in 2008 for his bout against Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas, which saw the Mancunian reign victorious.
He explained that the opportunity came about when they were both in attendance at a Manchester City game, and shared, “It’s sad we will never see him at the Etihad again.”
Gallagher concluded: “He was just one of the lads. I’ll remember him as a funny lad, we had a funny night out with him after that. We were all out in Vegas, him and his mates. The image of him as the wise cracking lad, that was him. He always had a one-liner, and he will be sorely missed. He was such a lovely, humble guy.”
Earlier this week, Liam also honoured Hatton, writing on X, “Absolutely devastated to hear the news about RICKY HATTON it was an absolute honour to know him and carry his belts RIP CHAMP LIVE FOREVER LG”.
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