The exciting 26-year-old delighted his hometown fans by producing a sixth-round stoppage of John Hedges.

Hatton’s popularity grew slowly and his emergence as a genuine ticket seller can be traced back to one atmospheric night in July 2001 when he and an exciting generation of local fighters took over Manchester’s Velodrome. The future two-time world champion stole the show with a fourth-round knockout of Jason Rowland.

Once the ball was rolling, it was impossible to stop. Hatton’s army of fans roared him on to a famous victory over Kostya Tszyu, then followed him across the Atlantic for a stunning Las Vegas residency.

On Saturday night, Manchester’s Brown (7-0, 7 KOs) was given the chance to headline a major show in his home city for the first time.

The Co-op Arena is less than a kilometer from the Velodrome. There were around 5,000 fans inside the venue once the first bell rang and the night felt like the start of something big.

Last week, the first anniversary of Hatton’s tragic death passed. It seemed somehow fitting, coinciding with Brown’s coronation as British champion and his emergence as the new standard bearer for Manchester boxing.

“It was amazing and it was definitely the best crowd I've fought in front of,” said Brown, whose family had a close personal connection with Hatton.

“I just feel like my career just keeps going up and quite fast as well. I've sort of walked into every scenario now. The only difference now will just be the size and capacity of the people coming to watch.”

A promoter’s job is to make sure their fighter is mentioned alongside the sport's best and most high-profile names.

Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn declared he would one day love to see Brown beat The Ring champion Jai Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs) at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United.

The statement was immediately jumped upon by those with little regard for the importance of the British title or a questionable understanding of the levels in boxing.

Besides the colossal jump in grade from Hedges to Opetaia, Brown would need to multiply his current ticket selling capacity by around 15 to fill the massive stadium. The 2024 Olympian seems certain to be involved in the world title mix at some stage but has kept a level head and realistic outlook on the speed of his development.

When questioned about the roadmap going forward, he wisely dampened down talk of fighting the Australian beltholder.

“I don't know. It’s for my team to decide but I think I've got a few fights in me before I get in with him, just because it’s not going to do me any harm having a few more,” he said.

"I've only boxed twice this year due to having a slight injury but we can keep the ball rolling now and then lead on to big things like that.”

Of course, for various reasons, there is no chance of Brown fighting Opetaia next.

British boxing is about to enter a period of change. Working out who can fill the massive hole left by fighters like Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Derek Chisora and Dillian Whyte will be high on Hearn's list of priorities.

Given the lack of genuinely popular ticket sellers in British boxing at the moment, it would be a promotional risk of monumental proportions to put a potential headline attraction in too deep, too soon.

Hearn believes Brown has what it takes to rule the 200-pound division before invading the heavyweight ranks but the promoter also knows he could have a huge draw on his hands.

Everybody involved will benefit from a steady climb rather than a rushed jump.

“Well, I believe he wins the fight [with Opetaia] so I don't think that he's off the level at all but, like he said quite sensibly, here’s no harm [waiting]. He's only going to get better. He's 26. He's not 29 or 30,” Hearn said.

“I think he’s the biggest puncher in the cruiserweight division. I know Jai is getting hurt by [Noel] Mikaelian and those guys. They don't punch anywhere near as hard as Pat but, of course, me calling out those guys after seven fights is not the same as Jamie [Moore, Brown’s trainer] doing it.

“What I'm saying is I believe he can win those fights now but we're not in those fights. That's the reality. The European title I think is a real nice progression.”