When 46-year-old Ricky Hatton died on September 14, 2025, the tributes poured in from every single corner of the sport, so long was the reach of the two-weight world champion from Manchester.

But back home at his gym in Hyde, on the outskirts of the city, were three boxers being mentored and trained by "the Hitman" at the time of his tragic passing.

One of those was John Hedges, an Essex boy who had been taken in by Hatton following a chance meeting on the party island of Ibiza. At the time, Hedges needed help, and Hatton did not hesitate to lend a hand.

Now, a year on from his former trainer’s passing, it is not lost on Hedges that he will head into the biggest fight of his life in an arena just seven miles away from the gym where he had worked under his former trainer.

As he describes it, Saturday’s clash with Manchester’s own Pat Brown is an “away day” but he will feel very at home in Hatton territory.

“Mate, it’s mad timing isn’t it?” Hedges said when we spoke over the phone a few weeks back.

“And when I look back on it, just ending up there working with Ricky was a bit of a mad story in itself. It was almost like it was meant to be.”

Hedges had been training under Mark Tibbs for the best part of five years but the pair split less than six weeks before his first challenge for the English cruiserweight title. He would have been forgiven for withdrawing from the fight as he searched for a new coach but then he remembered Ricky.

“I didn’t know where to turn,” Hedges recalls. “I was just trying to think of certain stables around me but none of them felt right. It was also the last five weeks of camp so I needed some attention, I couldn't go to a gym with loads of fighters.

“Then I remembered that trip to Ibiza a couple of months prior. I had been on holiday over there and bumped into Ricky, who I had known for a number of years. We had a couple of nights out together and went for a bit of food.

“I remember he said to me ‘mate, if you ever need anything, just ring me anytime’. So I sat there and thought to myself that it had to be worth a shot because I’ve only got five weeks.

“So I phoned him and he said ‘this is a serious fight, mate, get your arse up here now’. He said if I can’t find a hotel that I could stay with him, just get up as quick as you can. I made the phone call on the Sunday and was training in Manchester by Tuesday.

“He told me to do a trial and if I like it I could stay. I told him I didn’t have time for a trial but I trusted him to guide me properly and that was that.”

The pair clicked straight away. They trained Monday to Friday as usual but also did extra sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights, just to speed up their connection. It worked a treat as Hedges beat Nathan Quarless via wide points decision to become English champion.

“He never missed one training session,” Hedges adds. “He took me straight in and off we went. That was the start of it.”

What neither man knew at the time is that the Quarless victory would be their one and only fight together. Within four months, Hatton was gone and Hedges was floored.

“Oh mate, it wasn't nice,” Hedges says, doing his best to put on a brave face. “It wasn't nice. At the time it was me and two other boys. There were only three of us in the gym and it was a very close team.

“It was the same people every day and then when you came back in to do an evening session it was the same people again. It was me, Jack Murphy and Ibrahim Nadim. It was only us three.

“Of course it was out of the blue for us and a huge shock to the system. Ultimately, I could sit here and say I could have seen the signs or this and that. But it's one of them and there is no bringing him back now.”

Without Hatton, the 24-year-old returned to Essex and linked up with Frank Greaves. He returned to the ring in December last year with a successful first defense of his English title against Ellis Zorro.

In tribute to his former trainer, Hedges wore shorts trimmed with the sky blue of Manchester City, Hatton’s beloved club, and walked to the ring to an Oasis song, Hatton’s favorite band who are fronted by his close friends the Gallagher brothers.

Saturday’s clash with Brown is his first fight since then and his first fight in Manchester since the dark days of a year ago.

"I will definitely give him some sort of tribute because he was a legend," he says. "Simple as that.

“Ricky will be in my thoughts the whole time and really the whole fight will be in tribute to him. And the best way I can repay him is by going in there and getting the job done like he would have wanted.”