Manchester bid a final farewell to one of its most loved sporting heroes today as two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton was laid to rest, with hundreds lining the streets.<br /><br />Hatton, a popular character who unified the light-welterweight division and won a world welterweight title, was found dead aged 46 at his Hyde home on September 14.<br /><br />The funeral will be held at Manchester Cathedral at noon, and a series of boxers were photographed arriving this morning, including Tyson Fury, who was wearing a suit featuring images of himself, along with Tony Bellew, Scott Welc,h, and Frazer Clarke. <br /><br />As mourners reflected on his life and times, the funeral cortege departed from the Cheshire Cheese pub - Hatton's local - on Stockport Road in Hyde and traveled to Harehill Tavern before doves were released in Hatton's honor at The New Inn.<br /><br />In a nod to Hatton's love of classic TV comedy, Only Fools and Horses, his yellow Reliant Robin van formed part of the cortege, transported on a low-loader trailer.<br /><br />Some of the mourners waved Manchester City flags emblazoned with 'there's only one Ricky Hatton' as the cortege drove by the Cheshire Cheese at 9.45 am.<br /><br />Hundreds stood outside the pub to pay their respect, and they burst into a respectful applause as the 'Trotters Independent Trading Co' van owned by Hatton stopped.<br /><br />Many mourners placed flowers and tributes on the low-loader transporting the vehicle. Hatton's body was in a blue coffin with 'Blue Moon' etched on the side.<br /><br />Among the mourners was super fan James Bowes, 36, who first met Ricky in 2002 and told the Daily Mail: 'I went to every fight with him. I even went to Las Vegas.
