Hedges wears tribute to Ricky Hatton at Manchester weigh-in ahead of Saturday title fight

John Hedges paid tribute to his late trainer Ricky Hatton by wearing a T-shirt bearing Hatton's images during the weigh-in for Saturday's fight with Pat Brown in Manchester, a contest for the vacant British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles.

Ricky Hatton, a two-weight world champion, was found dead at his Manchester home in September 2025, aged 46, and moved into coaching after retiring in 2012; Hedges spent time working under Hatton and had him in his corner when he won the English cruiserweight title in May 2025. Essex's Hedges is 24 and remains unbeaten in 12 professional fights, having picked up three of his 12 victories by knockout.

The atmosphere at Manchester's New Century Hall saw Hedges receive boos as the majority of the crowd supported the local fighter Pat Brown; Hedges pointed to the images on his T-shirt and said, "This isn't a hostile atmosphere, this is second nature to me," and added, "I've boxed at a high level as an amateur and this is what you get used to." He also said, "Pat knows the crack, he knows where I've been and this is nothing new. I'm blessed to be here but this is nothing new."

Brown has won all six of his professional fights by knockout and represented Team GB at the 2024 Olympics; he has a growing fanbase in his home city and was met with chants of, "Oh, Patrick the Bomber," in reference to his nickname.

Both fighters tipped the scales at 14st 3lb (90kg) at the official weigh-in, and Brown said, "This is what I was born to do," adding, "Since I was seven years old and my dad took me into the gym - this is what I was born to do."

The bout had originally been scheduled for Planet Ice in Altrincham but was upgraded to the larger Co-op Live arena because of ticket demand; Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn told IFL TV earlier this week he expected a crowd of around 5,000 at the event.

Hedges and Brown will meet on Saturday at Co-op Live in Manchester to contest the vacant British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles.