Ricky Hatton, professional boxer between 1997 and 2012, who held light-welterweight and welterweight titles, announced this week that he is returning to the ring, 13 years after his final match. The British boxer, born in 1978, will be 47 when he returns to the ring to fight against Eisa Al Dah, nicknamed the 'Arabian Warrior', aged 46.
It will be a fight in Dubai, on December 2, 2025. Sadly, he was not able to fly to Dubai to announce it himself, as before his flight, he sustained an eye injury during an Oasis concert, puncturing the protective layer of his pupil when he was rushing to put his sunglasses on. He had to go to the hospital in Manchester and was advised not to fly.
Hatton will not be the only boxing legend to return to the ring this year, as Manny Pacquiao, 46, is also expected to fight Mario Barrios next week, on July 19 in Las Vegas, with the chance of extending his own record as the oldest welterweight world champion.
Hatton had an impressive 15-year career, with 48 professional fights, 45 wins, 32 wins by KO, and only three defeats, including his final two against Pacquiao and Vyacheslav Senchenko, and his fifth final one against Floyd Mayweather Jr., all three by KO. This and other factors led to a depression, but he has now become an advocate on mental health in professional sport.
He last fought at an exhibition outing in 2022, and now works as a trainer, but this will be his first competitive fight. "No matter how old we get in life we still have goals, ambitions, targets to set up yourself. We still have to have a reason to get up in the morning", Hatton said, who argues that this fight will be good for his mental health (via The Ring). "There's a very good reason to give me focus and keep me healthy, not the opposite. Why did Mike Tyson fight again? Why is Manny Pacquiao fighting again? We're fighters, it's what we do."