British legend Ricky Hatton is set to compete in professional boxing for the first time in over a decade this year, with the 46-year-old facing veteran Gulf fighter Eisa Al Dah.
Hatton, a former welterweight and light-welterweight world champion, will take on Al Dah in Dubai on 2 December, 13 years after announcing his retirement after a loss to Vyacheslav Senchenko in Manchester in 2012.
The Stockport-born fighter last fought in an exhibition against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022, though his fight against Al Dah will be fully sanctioned as a professional bout. Al Dah, also 46, was the first professional boxer in the United Arab Emirates.
The bout against Al Dah will be the 49th professional fight of a glittering career for Hatton, who boasts a 45-3 record having racked up 43 straight wins in a decade between 1997 and 2007, before suffering his first loss – to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
He subsequently secured wins over Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi – the latter victory also becoming known for Hatton’s walkout with Liam and Noel Gallagher of the band Oasis – before losing to another legend, Manny Pacquiao, in 2009.
Hatton was due to fly to Dubai to take part in a press conference to launch the bout on Sunday evening, though he reportedly suffered an eye injury at the Oasis reunion gig in Cardiff on 4 July and was not cleared to travel.
Nevertheless, Hatton joined the conference via video call, and said that he was “very much looking forward to it myself, to be honest with you”.
“What you’re trying to do there for boxing in Dubai is fantastic,” he added.
Al Dah said that the bout “will be a true fight, true action”. “Trust me, this fight will not be like the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight. And I will do my best, because everybody in the UAE and the Gulf, they will watch this fight. The place will be sold out and it will be watched around the world.”
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