RICKY HATTON’S recent appearance on Simon Jordan’s popular Up Front podcast came as a riveting reminder of his history and legacy as not just an elite-level fighter, whose marauding all-action style made him a fan-favourite, but as a bona fide working-class hero when in his prime.

That prime saw him involved in some of his eras most exciting and pulsating battles inside the ring — against the likes of Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao — and then ultimately his well-publicised deep dive down into the depths of depression and despair.

Adding to the Shakesperean trajectory of this particular story was Ricky’s ill-fated attempt to make a comeback three years after his devastating KO loss to Pacquaio. But if his legion of fans were expecting a Hollywood ending when he faced Ukraine's Vyacheslav Senchenko in front of a full house at the Manchester Arena on that cold November night in 2012, they were fated to go home disappointed.