Former world boxing champion British boxing legend Richie Hatton, 44, has announced his return to the ring and he will be back in the Manchester ring a decade later.
Hatton has a god-like status in the hearts of British boxing fans, with a professional record of 45 wins and 3 losses. In June 2005, he defeated former Soviet star Costa Tsyu, who had become an Australian citizen, to win the super lightweight world boxing championship. In May 2006, Rich Hatton was promoted to the sub-middleweights and defeated Luis Corazzo to win the WBA sub-middleweight World Boxing Championship Gold Belt.
Hatton later lost to Mayweather and Pacquiao, and on November 24, 2012, after three and a half years of retirement, Hatton returned to be defeated by Ko Vyacheslav Senchenko.
"I can confirm my return to the ring," Hatton said on his personal Twitter account. "On 2 July, join me for a big party night in Manchester – top music performances. Don't focus on how I fell, but on how I got up..." Hatton will face another boxing legend, Mark Anton Barrera, in an eight-legged exhibition match.
The 48-year-old Mexican Barrera was defeated by Amir Qahan in 2009. He defeated nassim Hamed, the then-rising British "prince", in April 2014, and last competed in 2011.
Barrera actually played two exhibition matches last year, against Jesús Soto Callas and Daniel Ponce de León, which were played in California and New Mexico, respectively, but this time, he will travel to the opponent's turf.