Ricky Hatton’s son Campbell said the family have not been able to grieve his father’s death privately but called the support they have had from people a “blessing”.

The former world light-welterweight and welterweight champion died last September aged 46.

Thousands of people lined the route for the boxer’s funeral procession from Hyde to Manchester Cathedral the following month.

“As a family we’ve not been able to grieve with any privacy and there’s a lot of negatives that have come from that – but if there’s a positive, it’s that people walking down the street say nice things and check up on us. That’s the blessing behind it,” Campbell, who has also boxed professionally, told BBC Radio Manchester.

“To everyone it’s heartbreaking. Not just Manchester, the whole country and the sport are heartbroken because they have lost Ricky Hatton but it’s just my dad to me.”

He added: “We were all so proud of the fanbase he had but to see it day to day… It’s nice.

“It shocked me the most at the funeral when we were in the cars making our way to the cathedral.

“There wasn’t a part of the route that wasn’t full of people. You couldn’t see a bit of pavement for the three hours we were in the car.

“We knew how popular he was but to actually see it in front of you was something else and we can’t thank people enough.”

A special Evening4Ricky is being held at Manchester Arena, a venue where he enjoyed some of the greatest successes of his career, on Sunday, 7 June.

Campbell said they want the event to be “a celebration and a party” for the much-loved boxer.

“I think everyone in boxing, if they’re available, they want to be here and that is a testament to the man he was. It’s massive for people,” he said.

“I think it will be impossible for it to end up being a sad occasion. It’s going to be a great night.”