If there were any early concerns about Hatton’s ability to reach the top, it was a weakness around his eyes. Cuts would appear in fights that were almost as bad as the ones he made on his own fingers with a knife while trying to fit carpets.
Surgeries would eventually help and, as the wins continued to rack up, titles came.
His victory over Belfast’s Eamonn Magee in 2002, when Hatton picked himself up off the canvas, showed some vulnerability but also character as he bit down to turn the fight back in his favour.
Manchester knew they had a hero. The city’s biggest indoor arena was regularly filled for his fights, but promoters could have sold it out 10 times over for what was, without doubt, Hatton’s career highlight in 2005 when he took on light-welterweight king Kostya Tszyu.
Staged in the early hours of the morning to suit American TV, the atmosphere inside the venue belongs in British sporting folklore. It inspired Hatton to put on the performance of a lifetime and, not only beat the man considered number one at 10 stone, but also break his will so much so that he didn’t come out for the final round. The celebrations went on for days. Maybe weeks.
What made Hatton different to other sports stars was that many of those celebrations were with his friends and fans.
Nights like his – to put it in polite terms – ‘not very nice shirt’ nights became a routine after victories.
When stars came to visit, even the likes of Oscar de la Hoya, they were as often treated to the delights of the local pubs in Hyde as much as the flash cocktail bars of Manchester city centre.
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