Boxing champ Ricky Hatton dead at 46, months before his scheduled comeback

LONDON – British boxer Ricky Hatton has died at the age of 46, the BBC reported on Sunday.

Former world champion Hatton won titles at light-welterweight and welterweight, before retiring in 2012. He had been due to make a comeback for an event in Dubai later this year.

Former boxing world champion Ricky Hatton has died at 46, according to reports. Getty Images

Greater Manchester Police said in a statement that a body had been found on Sunday morning at an address in Hyde in the northern English city.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious,” the police spokesperson said.

Hatton had 45 wins in 48 bouts over his career but in the years after he retired he said he had tried to kill himself several times and had been open about his struggle with depression, drink and drugs.

“I was coming off the rails with my drinking and that led to drugs. It was like a runaway train,” he told BBC radio in 2016.

Ricky Hatton (right) was scheduled to make a comeback in Dubai later this year. Getty Images

Hatton’s best performance came in 2005 when he stopped Australian Kostya Tszyu to add the IBF light-welterweight title to the WBU belt he already held.

He had a perfect 43-0 record until he was floored by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas in 2007 and was never the same again.