Ricky Hatton’s opponent on his return to the ring at the MEN Arena on Nov 24 will be will be 35-year-old Ukrainian Vyacheslav Senchenko in a 10-round welterweight bout. The match-up puts him on a perfect path to a potential world title fight with Paulie Malignaggi, the World Boxing Association welterweight champion, in the first quarter of next year. In spite of Hatton’s self-imposed 3½-year exile from the ring, his popularity is clearly undiminished. The 16,500 tickets sold out in 48 hours before opponent Senchenko had even been announced. However, it is understood that some of those close to the boxer-turned-promoter may be unhappy about his decision to fight again
Police were called when Hatton’s father, Ray, had an altercation with his son the day before the boxer announced his comeback. It is unclear whether the two events are related. Former two-weight world champion Hatton, who last fought in May 2009 when he was knocked out in Las Vegas by Manny Pacquiao, announced his return to the ring earlier this month. He has been in strict training for several months.
Senchenko has lost just one of his 33 professional fights and is a former world champion. After a decorated amateur career at world level, Senchenko won the WBA welterweight title in 2009, defending it three times before being stopped by former Hatton victim Malignaggi in April this year. It was one of Malignaggi’s finest performances, and Hatton is targeting the Brooklynite for the belt early next year, provided he comes through this.
‘The Hitman’, who will celebrate his 34th birthday next week, retired from the sport last year but admitted he was itching to get back into the ring. “I’m sure that Vyacheslav Senchenko will give me a good fight. It’s one that I am confident I can win though,” he said. “I believe this was as good an opponent as I could have had. I’m in great shape, I’m feeling good and I know I can put on a performance.” The undercard features Hatton-promoted Scott Quigg and Rendell Munroe, who will compete in a re-match for the WBA interim world title at super bantamweight – their first meeting was stopped when Munroe suffered a huge cut above his eye after a clash of heads – while Sergey Rabchenko will fight Cedric Vitu for the European light-middleweight title. I can’t wait to get in the ring now,” said the 33-year-old.
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