Ricky Hatton will forever be defined by the night he broke Kosta Tszyu's heart

Forget, for a moment, the nights on the gaudy Las Vegas Strip.

Forget the brutal defeats by two of boxing's greats which attracted thousands from Manchester to boxing's Mecca like moths to a flame.

Ricky Hatton's defining night will always be much closer to home.

Hatton, who was found dead at home on Sunday aged just 46, may fought two of the best to ever lace up a pair of gloves in Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in Sin City, but it was a night in Manchester in 2005 which marks his career as special. Just nine miles from the council estate on which he grew up, Hatton upset Kosta Tszyu in a fight which catapulted him into stardom.

READ MORE: Ricky Hatton dies aged 46 as British boxing icon found at home

READ MORE: Amir Khan makes heartbreaking plea after boxing legend Ricky Hatton's death

Aussie Tszyu had reigned for a decade and was considered among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Hatton, meanwhile, held the lightly-regarded WBU light-welterweight title and was a considerable underdog that night at the Manchester Arena.

But he turned the tables during a gritty and at times tempestuous battle, forcing the champion to retire on his stool before the start of the final round - and he never fought again. Reflecting on the win earlier this year, Hatton said: "My home time in Manchester, a packed arena with nobody expecting me to win and if I did win, it would be one of the best wins in a British boxing ring. And for it to be against a formidable punching machine like he was and to make him quit on his stool, was unbelievable."

Hatton's career had began rather more inauspiciously in a leisure centre in Widnes eight years earlier when he forced Colin McAuley to retire on his stool after the first round. He won his first title in 1999 when he picked up the Central Area belt and was crowned British champion in 2000 when he outpointed Jon Thaxton.

A win over Tony Pep the following year saw Hatton land the WBU strap and he would go on to make 15 title defences before convincing the hard-hitting Tszyu, who had knocked out 25 of his 33 opponents, to travel from the other side of the world to defend his IBF light-welterweight title.

"The newspapers said I didn't have half a chance," Hatton told the BBC. "Walking to the ring I was trying to have confidence in myself and what we had worked on. Under such pressure, it's just holding it together."

It was verging on 3am by the time the first bell rang, and Hatton refused to let up from the opening minute. He dragged Tszyu into a brutal battle the visitor did not want, and bar a tricky patch in the middle of the bout, Hatton had the champion struggling.

Hatton didn't know he was up on all three judges' scorecards when he went back to his stool at the end of the 11th round. The champion needed a stoppage over the final three minutes to take his belts back to Sydney, but couldn't bring himself to climb off his stool and summon one final effort.

"That is Mount Everest," Hatton reflected. "Once you retire, it's hard to replace that feeling. It's probably the reason why I struggled with retirement. It was a dream. People tell me it was their best night in Manchester. It doesn't matter what money you have, that is worth more. It's worth everything."

Hatton would go on to unify the 140lb division before stepping up to the welterweight division - and Mayweather. No British fighter has invaded Las Vegas in the same way Hatton did in 2007 when more than 10,000 made the 5,000-mile trip across the Atlantic.

After a bright start to the fight, Hatton succumbed to Mayweather in the same way his opponents did before and after that night at the MGM Grand. Stopped in the 10th round, Hatton would bounce back with wins over Juan Lazcano and Pauli Malignaggi to set up a clash with Pacquiao.

This time, as many as 25,000 fans flew out to support one of their own but their night was short-lived as Pacquiao left Hatton out cold on the canvas in the second round. That defeat lead Hatton not only to retire but down a dark path as he struggled to deal with the defeat. He made a comeback in 2022, losing to Vyacheslav Senchenko and was due to return to the ring in December in Dubai.

But the enduring image of Hatton's career will always be the one of him lying on his back, in exhaustion as much as euphoria, after Tsyzu threw in the towel.