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Inside Ricky Hatton's shock comeback: How former world champion left boxing world stunned with very unlikely opponent
Last night, former world light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton announced that he was to have one more fight at the age of 46.
The fight, according to a livestream in which Hatton appeared remotely, will occur in Dubai on 2 December, and will see the ‘Hitman’, now a grandfather and fighting at middleweight, take on Eisa Al Dah, 8-3 (4). The bout is being promoted under the title ‘Destiny in the Desert’.
Intriguingly the fight has been described as being a ‘WBC middleweight championship’ bout.
Speaking at the weekend, opponent Al Dah said that the fight would be a sellout in the UAE and watched by millions around the world.
He said: “Trust me, guys. This fight will not be like Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight. It will be a true fight, true action, and I will do my best because everyone in the UAE and the Gulf will watch this as a fight.”
He added: “If I lose the fight, my head is up. I promise you.”
Hatton said that he was looking forward himself to the fight. He was unable to make it to the announcement due to an injury he had suffered to his eye, involving a pair of sunglasses, while at the first Oasis concert in Cardiff.
The fight comes thirteen years after Hatton last fought professionally. That was in 2012, when he was stopped in nine rounds with a bodyshot by Vyacheslav Senchenko in Manchester. Hatton, who was winning on the scorecards at the end of the fight, had seen his energy levels dwindle and diminish after the initial rounds. He tearfully admitted in the post-fight interview that his punches and timing had been grossly off, missing his opponent by huge margins.
The fight against Senchenko came after a three-and-a-half-year lay off for Hatton. In 2009, the Mancunian fighter was knocked out cold in two rounds by Manny Pacquiao after being put down twice in the first round. Hatton was also stopped by Floyd Mayweather in ten rounds in 2007 and looked flat against both Paul Malignaggi and Juan Lazcano in 2008 bouts.
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While Hatton has not fought professionally since the Senchenko fight, he did take part in an exhibition bout with Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022. For that bout, Hatton came in at 160lbs, the same weight he is set to face Al Dah at. Back then, Hatton referred to the Barrera exhibition as his ‘last dance’.
A few years ago in boxing circles, it was also mooted that an exhibition bout might take place in Cardiff against former WBO featherweight champion Steve Robinson. That bout, however, never came to pass.
Standing in the opposite corner in December will be Al Dah, who is also 46 and last fought four years ago, when he was stopped in one round by Pedro Alejandro Delgado in Mexico City.
The boxing world has evinced various reactions to the ‘comeback’.
