Former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton will return to the ring at the age of 46 to fight in the United Arab Emirates in December, 13 years after his retirement.
The Manchester fighter, who turns 47 in October, will face Eisa Al Dah in Dubai on December 2. Hatton (45-3) has not fought since losing in his last comeback fight against Vyacheslav Senchenko in November 2012.
“Fight! It’s official,” Hatton posted on X. He won world titles at welterweight and light welterweight, and his other two defeats came against pound-for-pound greats Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
He is the latest former champion to announce his comeback long after retiring, in an expanding market for such events, with Pacquiao, Mike Tyson, Roy Jones Jr. and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. having staged lucrative returns.
Al Dah, also 46, has not fought since 2021 and only once since 2012. But he insisted there will be plenty of action. “It won’t be like the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul,” Al Dah said. “It will be a real fight. Real action and I will give my best.”
Hatton became a British sporting hero after winning epic fights against Kostya Tszyu, Jose Luis Castillo and Paulie Malignaggi. They earned him fights with Mayweather and Pacquiao, but both ended in knockout defeats.
A dramatic end to the race
He first retired after his brutal second-round knockout defeat against Pacquiao in 2009, but returned more than three years later and fought Ukrainian Senchenko at the Manchester Arena.
That fight also ended in defeat, with a ninth round that left Hatton in tears. Since retiring, Hatton has trained other fighters at his gym in Manchester. He said he hoped his fight would lead to more fights being staged in Dubai. “There is a market for it,” he said, “and I think it will be a sensational evening.”
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