Ricky Hatton, a junior welterweight and welterweight world champion and 2024 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, passed away at his home in Hyde, Manchester, England on Sunday at 46.

The Ring named him Fighter of the Year in 2005.

Hatton is arguably the most popular British fighter of all time.

The "Hitman" regularly sold out the former MEN Arena in his hometown of Manchester and thrilled audiences across the U.K., from celebrities to working-class fans who identified so closely with him.

A good example of his popularity was his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007, when an estimated 30,000 Brits poured into Las Vegas. An estimated 55,000 watched him beat Juan Lazcano at the home of his beloved Manchester City soccer team after his loss to Mayweather.

Hatton became an elite fighter when he took the IBF junior welterweight title from Kostya Tszyu in 2005, forcing the Hall of Famer to retire on his stool at the conclusion of the 11th round. Hatton described it as his greatest victory.

He followed that by stopping Carlos Maussa in the ninth round to win the WBA belt.

Hatton's downfall came quickly and violently against a prime Manny Pacquiao in 2009, when the Filipino star put his opponent down twice in the first round and separated him from his senses with an overhand left in the second for The Ring's Knockout of the Year. He spoke with The Ring about the best he faced across 10 key categories.

Floyd Mayweather: I would throw five, six, seven punches at a time [and] maybe one or two would get through but he'd always get a half block on them. Probably 60-70 percent of his punches he threw landed. I was probably throwing three or four times as many and not having the success. It was the timing and hand speed. He knew when to let the punches go.

While I was going 10 to the dozen, he just weathered the storm, waited for me to slow down, and then he put his foot on the gas and found the punches at the right time. It was all right the first half of the fight. He soaked it up. Then when he knew I started to blow, I guess he found the right punches. Very clever.

Eamonn Magee: He was a counterpuncher, and a counterpuncher is probably stylewise the worst person for me. Mayweather's was a good jab but wasn't what you call a murderous jab. I think to keep me with my style off, you need a heavy jab for me to walk into. [Magee's] jab came out very fast and very solid and made me wary about attacking.

Mayweather: When you think, sometimes I threw six, seven, sometimes eight punches at a time, sometimes every one would miss. And if I did get one or a couple of punches, he'd either get a half shoulder, half block or half dip or pull away. The shots I did catch him with he was able to take the sting out of.

Ben Tackie: I could have hit him for a fortnight and nothing would have happened. He wasn't the quickest and wasn't the most talented, but he made you work for three minutes of every round. I think early on in that fight, maybe two or three rounds, I thought this is one of those fights you're not going to knock him out. I hurt him with body shots a couple of times, but every time I hit him on the chin, I must admit I didn't see any effect.

Manny Pacquiao: You would say Manny Pacquiao because of the destructiveness of the punch. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I don't think I had any fight in me by the time I got into the ring. I'd massively overtrained. You'd probably have to say Manny Pacquiao even having said that, for the one-punch power to end it in such a way.

I fought a fair few decent punchers. I walked into a right uppercut from Vince Phillips which was a real solid shot that shook me in the fourth round of our fight. I won that fight pretty easy, but I didn't know where I was for a short space of time. You'd probably have to go with Pacquiao.

Mayweather: He was very, very quick. I stood off him, and like any fighter will tell you, we'll ease into a fight. That's what I tried to do against Mayweather. And when he hit me with that lead left hook, I thought, "Jesus, I can't stand off and allow him to use this hand speed he's got. I've got to get close." But that first lead left hook really took me by surprise. I fought some fast people in the past like Luis Collazo. Eamonn Magee had very fast hands. But I could tell that was a different level.

Pacquiao: Manny was quite quick. Like I say, I don't think I was at my best, but when Manny Pacquiao shuffles in and shuffles out, he is very, very quick. When he shuffles in, he does so very explosively. I think that's why he took a lot of bigger men by surprise, because of his hand speed. He pulls in, pulls back and pulls back in with such ferocity. He shook bigger guys because it's not the punches you see that hurt you, it's the one's you don't that hurt you, and I think a lot of that is due to his footwork.

Mayweather: By a country mile. As I proved several times in my career, I can go flat out for the full 12. I don't think the referee allowed me to. He broke me up, stopped my rhythm and stopped me working. I'll always look back on that fight and wonder, "What if the referee had let me fight, stay closer?" But I can't help think Floyd had everything in check. It certainly seemed that way.

The referee didn't help my cause, but it was as though he was waiting for me to slow that bit then he put his foot on the gas. He's very clever. It's not his work rate, and it's not how many punches he puts together, it's the time he chooses to put his foot on the gas and when he chooses to throw the punches.

Juan Urango: He wasn't very quick, not a great deal of boxing ability and was easy to hit, but one of those fighters I didn't think I was gonna knock him out. When he got close, he was the first and only [140-pound] guy I couldn't throw about.

Mayweather: He wasn't necessarily a powerhouse, he was everything a boxer should be. They always say boxing is the art of hit and not be hit, and he was the best — his timing, defense, hand speed. He wasn't the biggest power merchant but the best all-rounder by a country mile. I guess Manny Pacquiao was the second-best guy.

The fight was over that quick, and I wasn't at my best, so it was a little bit harder to gauge. When I was up against Floyd, when I was up a weight division, I felt the preparation was perfect. But yeah, Floyd and then maybe Manny Pacquiao.