MANCHESTER UNITED legends Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have paid tribute to the late Ricky Hatton upon the launch of their new podcast.
Hatton, 46, was found dead at his Manchester home on Sunday and his death is not being treated as suspicious.
The boxing icon and lifelong Manchester City fan was remembered across the sporting world after news broke of his death.
Now two former Man Utd players, alongside TV personality and close friend Paddy McGuinness, have paid tribute to ‘The Hitman’ in the opening moments of their brand new podcast, ‘The Good, The Bad & The Football’.
In the first ever episode of the new show, all three sat down and discussed their fond memories of spending time with Hatton as a friend.
Butt remembered Hatton as a “great bloke” and a “people’s person”, while Scholes hailed him as a “great character” and “one of the best boxers Britain has ever produced”.
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And one heartwarmingly hilarious story typified the type of person that Hatton was and his brilliant sense of humour.
McGuinness, who was a close friend of Hatton’s, recalled one particular story from the Soccer Aid game in 2010 that “makes him smile” to think about.
The Lancashire comedian said: “I was right-back and he was right-wing, but we were on the bench – no surprise.
“Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] was playing, and [Luis] Figo, so they were over on that side. Whoever was on that right hand side was getting absolutely murdered.
“Harry Redknapp, in his infinite wisdom, thought ‘I’ll bring the big dogs on. McGuinness and Hatton’.
“So we go on and I’m behind Ricky. We’d been playing about 10 or 15 minutes and we’re absolutely blowing.
“Somebody got injured and the ball went out for a minute and the game stopped. Ricky goes, ‘Paddy, Paddy [shouting for his attention]’
“I thought, ‘right, here we go. World champion. Champion’s mindset. He’ll give a little pep talk now to get us through this’. And I ran over to him and said ‘Yeah, Ricky?’.
“He went, ‘we’re f****d. You kick them, I’ll punch them’.”
McGuinness added: “Just how he was like that, it just relaxes you.”
Despite Hatton’s connection to Man City, both Butt and Scholes were full of praise for the boxing star.
Man Utd fans paid the same respect to Hatton during a moment of appreciation held at the Etihad Stadium before Sunday’s Manchester Derby too.
Both City and United fans came together to remember the legend, who was part of the fabric of the city of Manchester.
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