Published: Friday September 14, 2012 MYT 7:51:00 PM
Former champ Hatton returns to the ring
LONDON: Former world champion Ricky Hatton has confirmed he is coming out of retirement three years after his last fight.
Hatton, who held world titles at Light Welterweight and Welterweight, turns 34 next month, but he will return to the ring on November 24 with a fight at the Manchester Arena against an unnamed opponent.
Hatton's last bout ended in disappointment with a second-round knockout by Manny Pacquiao in May 2009 and since then the British fighter has confessed to struggling with drink and drug problems.
He also established his own promotions company which hit difficulties in May when he lost his television deal with Sky.
"Why am I coming back? It's been well documented what's happened to me since the last time I've been in a boxing ring," Hatton said on Friday.
"I've started looking after myself a bit better and getting fitter and that's how it started. I don't want to be fighting at four or six-round levels - I want to fight for world titles.
"It's about more than money, this comeback. People say nice things about me but they don't know what's been going on in between my ears."
Hatton, who will be granted a new licence upon completion of a medical, admitted the thought of ending his career with that brutal defeat against Pacquiao also motivated him to get back into fighting shape.
"I didn't want my career to end that way," Hatton said. "It put me into retirement, which I never wanted to do.
"The manner of that defeat put me into some things which have been well documented. My life turned to mush.
"I got back into promoting, which I loved, but it didn't quite fill the void.
"I got a huge buzz getting opportunities for my fighters and I was in the gym every day of the week passing on the knowledge - but it didn't fill the gap." - AFP
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