Ricky Hatton coming out of boxing retirement aged 47 for December fight against Eisa Al Dah in Dubai

Former world champion Ricky Hatton says he is coming out of retirement for a December bout in Dubai 13 years on from his last professional boxing match.

The legendary Manchester fighter, who turns 47 in October, is set to fight Eisa Al Dah in Dubai in December 2.

Hatton last fought professionally in November 2012 when a knockout loss to Vyacheslav Senchenko dropped the Brit’s record to 45-3, but he did return to the ring for an exhibition bout with Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022.

The former welterweight and light-welterweight world champion joined a livestream on Sunday confirming the fight, during which he revealed an eye injury had stopped him from attending the event in person.

Hatton said: “I wish I was there but I had a little bad injury on my eye. The main thing is the fight will take place and I can’t wait, I’m really looking forward to it.

“It’s just one of them freakish things, I caught one of my sunglasses in my eyes and I’m very fortunate it’s not done any permanent damage. It’s just scraped the surface, so fingers crossed we’re good to go.”

In his prime Hatton secured famous victories over the likes of Kostya Tszyu and Jose Luis Castillo, before going on to suffer brutal knockout losses to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Al Dah, who is just two months younger than Hatton and will turn 47 in December, has only fought once professionally since 2012, which was a 2021 knockout defeat to Pedro Alejandro Delgado in Mexico. The UAE fighter holds a professional record of 8-3.

The announcement of Hatton’s return comes after Pacquiao announced his own comeback, with the 46-year-old Filipino fighting for a welterweight world title against champion Mario Barrios on July 19 in Las Vegas.