Coroner: Ex-champ Ricky Hatton died by suicide

Former boxing world champion Ricky Hatton died by suicide last month, according to coroner's court testimony on Thursday in England.

Paul Speak, manager for the 46-year-old Hatton, said he found his client unresponsive on the morning of Sept. 14 at his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

"The provisional cause of death is given as hanging," senior coroner Alison Mutch said during a brief hearing, part of an inquest into the popular fighter's death. She adjourned the inquest until March 20.

Hatton was last seen by his family on Sept. 12, two days before his body was found. He had been scheduled for an event on Sept. 13 but did not show up.

Hatton had been open in the past about his battles with depression, telling the BBC in 2016 that he had tried to kill himself "several times."

Hatton held the light welterweight and welterweight titles and compiled a career record of 45-3 with 32 knockouts. He was undefeated on Dec. 8, 2007, when he met Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas and lost by TKO in the 10th round.

Four more fights followed, with Hatton losing his final two bouts before retirement. He lost to Manny Pacquiao on May 2, 2009, in a second-round knockout in Las Vegas. On Nov. 24, 2012, he lost to Vyacheslav Senchenko in a ninth-round KO in the United Kingdom.

Hatton had been planning to end his retirement and meet 46-year-old Eisa Al Dah of the United Arab Emirates in a middleweight bout on Dec. 2 in Dubai.

Thousands of mourners lined the streets in Manchester last week following a private memorial service for Hatton.

--Field Level Media