To write about anyone who has taken their own life is a huge challenge, but to write about someone who is not just a colleague but also a friend and has died this way is a gargantuan task.

To add to the challenge, the fact that the sad passing of one of the most popular British sporting figures of the 21st century happened just 12 months ago makes the task even more raw and sensitive.

But British boxing broadcasting icon Adam Smith has done just that with the release of his latest book, RICKY HATTON: The Light That Never Goes Out.

Smith’s early career trajectory with Sky TV was effectively alongside the emergence of Hatton on the British and later world boxing scene in the early 2000s, and as both these journeys intertwined, so forged a lifelong friendship.

Adam Smith's superb book, Ricky Hatton: The Light That Never Goes Out

placeholder image — Adam Smith's superb book, Ricky Hatton: The Light That Never Goes Out

It was a friendship so deep and strong that it was Smith that delivered the heart-rending eulogy at Hatton’s funeral service at Manchester Cathedral in October 2025.

With the cultural nod to another of Manchester’s finest exports, The Smiths, The Light that Never Goes Out is effectively a personal 276-page ‘love letter’ to the much-loved and deeply-missed Hatton 12 months on from his untimely passing. The ‘highs’ are there, classic nights at the MEN, the invasion of Las Vegas of the Legendary Hatton fan base on more than one occasion, and a textbook boxer/trainer relationship with the iconic Billy Graham. But more than that, Smith, a man who has fought and won his own personal battles in recent years, almost pulls back the curtain on the legend that was – or in fact is – Richard John Hatton. Despite the epitome of the classic working class hero leaving us all far too early, he always will be Ricky, the boxing icon, the parent, the grandparent, the friend to millions. It will always be is rather than was.

It’s a cliche I know, but this was truly ‘a book I couldn’t put down. And, for me the mark of a quality piece of writing, is I could hear Adam Smith’s distinctive voice reading each page to me.

With sadly almost currently a suicide epidemic in this country, which often appears to be ignored in the corridors of power, Smith’s relationship and journey with Ricky could act as a self-help book for people who sadly find themselves, hopefully temporarily, in a dark place.

Tyson Fury, another boxing legend, but with his own much publicised demons, is succinct with his four-word appraisal on the front cover, “A brilliant heartfelt tribute”. He is right.

Hatton’s light will never go out – as long as pugilists are challenging each other in the squared circle and beyond. And this book is the ultimate instrument to keeping that important memory alive.

RICKY HATTON:The Light That Never Goes Out by Adam Smith, is published by Orion Books, rrp £25, and is available from all good bookshops. For more information please go to www.orionbooks.co.uk