As the fallout of Ricky Hatton’s death continues, his younger brother Matthew has spoken publicly for the first time since the tragic moment.
Hatton was found dead at his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester on September 14 – leaving the sporting world and beyond in a state of shock.
The 46-year-old by his manager Paul Speak. He was last seen by his family on September 12 and appeared well but did not attend an event as expected the following day.
Hatton was buried earlier this month and last week an inquest said his provisional cause of death was given as hanging. A full inquest will take place on March 20, 2026.
And speaking about his sibling’s death; Matthew, 44, revealed he had previous concerns for Ricky due to his past well-documented battles with mental health. However, he didn’t believe he would take his own life.
‘I don’t think we ever did [think he would take his own life],’ he told ITV.
Matthew Hatton has spoken publicly for the first time since his brother Ricky died last month
Ricky Hatton was found dead at his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester on September 14
Matthew says he was ‘always worried’ about his older sibling but his death is still a shock
‘I’ll be honest, I’ve always worried. I spoke with my partner all the time [about him] and we did worry a lot about Richard, obviously [with him] doing a lot of interviews and stuff like that.
‘I’d listen and I was never really convinced by what he was saying. A lot of the time he was speaking about things that had happened years ago and he didn’t really seem to have a purpose now or a vision for the future. That always worried me.
‘But genuinely, this year is undoubtedly the best he’s ever been by a long, long way because he had his problems since he stopped boxing. It really was a shock and we didn’t expect that at all.’
Elaborating further Matthew, who is also a former boxer, said Ricky had never reached out to him personally and that the reality of the situation has still not sunk in.
‘Not really. He was always so busy, he was everywhere,’ he said in relation to his brother ever reaching out.
‘I know he was speaking to professionals on a regular basis and that made me a little bit easier about the whole thing.
‘In reality I think no [I haven’t processed what’s happened]. At first I was totally shocked and for the first couple of weeks I went to see my mum and dad, I went to see [Hatton’s son] Campbell, I just couldn’t answer my phone or speak to people.
‘It felt like a bad dream. Has it hit me yet fully? I don’t know, probably not.’
