Synopsis
'Richard, Rick, Ricky - more like a Rocky story which led to a rollercoaster of fabulous nights, taking a down-to-earth lad from Hyde to Vegas and into the Boxing Hall of Fame. With those spine-tingling Blue Moon ring walks, and rip-roaring action, Richard Hatton MBE was both a sporting icon and a working-class hero.'
As 'The Voice of Boxing' delivered Ricky Hatton's eulogy, Adam Smith's opening words echoed through Manchester Cathedral and across the country. Ricky Hatton's death stunned the world in a way few sporting losses ever have. Tribute after tribute poured in, from the lads on the estates to the A-listers on the red carpets. Everybody loved Ricky. Everybody felt they had lost someone who belonged to them. Ricky Hatton was their voice, their joy, their fighter.
Written with the approval of Ricky's family, Adam Smith tells his extraordinary story in full. From Ricky's early career highlights and his iconic Blue Moon ring walks to his title bouts and fight nights in Las Vegas, as well as his struggles after retirement, his life is captured in vivid detail. Adam was one of Ricky's closest friends and was with him from the very beginning - at ringside, backstage, in bars, in cars, in takeaways and late-night hotel corridors, through all the triumphs, meltdowns, laughter, heartbreak and healing. Adam didn't just tell Ricky's story on television, he lived it with him. His laugh. His energy. His compassion. His heart. All of it lives on in these pages.
Raw and unflinchingly honest, this is a story of a deeply personal friendship forged through boxing and a powerful love letter to one of Britain's most beloved sporting icons.
About the Author
Adam Smith is one of Britain's most recognisable sports broadcasters and storytellers. A feature writer for The Ring, and a leading commentator for DAZN, TalkSport and The Voice of Boxing, Adam has spent a lifetime chronicling the triumphs and tribulations of the sporting world. As Sky Sports' Head of Boxing, Smith planned and fronted the coverage of some of the most iconic events in modern boxing from Ricky Hatton's electric nights in Manchester and Las Vegas to world-title epics like Anthony Joshua's thunderous clash with Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium that defined an era. After being asked to do so by Ricky's family, Smith gave the eulogy at his funeral in October 2025 at Manchester Cathedral, paying heartfelt tribute to one of his dearest friends.
This is his second book. It follows Adam's acclaimed debut Beautiful Brutality, for which he was shortlisted for Best New Writer at the British Sports Book Awards. Ricky himself wrote the foreword to Beautiful Brutality.
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