Ricky Hatton's son's tragic reason for quitting boxing at 24 just months before dad's death

Ricky Hatton's son Campbell decided to retire from boxing earlier this year after just 16 professional fights, despite showing early promises of a budding career

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Ricky Hatton's son Campbell retired from boxing earlier this year, just months before his father's death. Hatton was found dead in his Greater Manchester home on Sunday morning aged 46.

Local police confirmed the discovery of a body and noted that the death is not being treated as suspicious. Hatton, who won six world titles across three weight divisions, will be remembered as one of the UK's finest fighters of his generation.

He would have celebrated his 47th birthday next month and leaves behind three children, including his son Campbell, who also had a professional boxing career. Campbell was seen as a promising future star before he made the sudden decision to retire at the young age of 24.

Campbell kicked off his professional career in 2021 and achieved his first knockout victory over Attila Csereklye later that year. He triumphed in all of his initial 14 fights before suffering consecutive defeats against James Flint in 2024.

He was outscored on both occasions and took a break from the ring before appointing his father as his trainer in March. However, just four months later, it was announced that he was retiring from boxing with immediate effect.

Hatton shared the news on behalf of his son, who had been grappling with a personal tragedy behind the scenes. He told Boxing Now: "No, Campbell won't fight again. As you know, he didn't have much amateur experience.

"He gave it a go in the amateurs, and then he went pro and gave it a go. He fought for the Area title and got beaten. I thought he lost it to be fair, but then he fought the same lad straight away after.

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"I thought he won the second one. They were both very close fights. But he lost a little bit of his mojo, and then a few things went wrong. Sadly, he lost one of his best friends, Justin, who passed away at 27 years of age."

Ricky also explained that Campbell had already landed himself another job, maintaining that he felt proud of his son despite his brief boxing career.

He added: "I said, 'Listen son, you should be very proud of yourself, you have given it a go, but if you have lost your mojo, you need to get out.' You can't play boxing, you can play any other sport. So I advised him, and now he is doing solar panels."

The shocking news of Ricky's death has rocked the sporting world, with numerous prominent figures offering their condolences on social media.