“It was an absolute honour to know him and carry his belts”: Liam Gallagher pays tribute to Ricky Hatton after the boxer’s death

Oasis and Ricky Hatton in 2008
(Image credit: John Gichigi/Getty Images)

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has posted a tribute to boxing legend Ricky Hatton after it was announced over the weekend that the boxing legend and former world champion had died aged 46. Liam and guitarist brother Noel became friends with fellow Man City fan Hatton during the boxer’s rise to fame and famously carried Hatton’s title belts into the ring ahead of a match against Italian-American fighter Paulie Malignaggi in 2008.

Writing on X, Liam said, “Absolutely devastated to hear the news about RICKY HATTON it was an absolute honour to know him and carry his belts RIP CHAMP LIVE FOREVER LG x.”

A video has since emerged of what is believed to be Hatton’s final public appearance, with the ex-boxer captured singing Oasis’ classic Wonderwall in a bar in Tenerife in August. Hatton had previously claimed his three main ambitions in life was to be a boxing champion, support Man City and listen to Oasis. “'But I became a four-time world champion in two weight classes, ended up boxing at the Etihad Stadium in front of 55,000 people, and became mates with Noel and Liam Gallagher over the years,” he said.

Ricky Hatton stuns holidaymakers with Oasis singalong #themirror #news - YouTube Ricky Hatton stuns holidaymakers with Oasis singalong #themirror #news - YouTube
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Oasis have just wrapped up two huge shows in Mexico City as part of their all-conquering Live ’25 tour and will now take a short break – the first since the dates began back in July – before playing the final two gigs of their UK concerts at Wembley Stadium at the end of the month. After that, the Live ’25 tour heads to South Korea, Japan, Australia, Argentina and Chile before the mega-successful jaunt wraps up in Brazil at the end of November.

Niall Doherty

Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleagues Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more. Radiohead was only for eight minutes but he still counts it.

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