Ricky Hatton's opponent for comeback fight reveals plans to honour boxer

Ricky Hatton's opponent for his ill-fated comeback fight wants to make a pilgrimage to Manchester to honour the boxing legend.

Hatton, who was found dead in his home on Sunday aged 46, was due to return to the ring in Dubai on December 2. He was to take on Eisa Al Dah in what would have been the Brit's first professional fight since he retired in 2012.

Hatton had been due to fly to the Middle East on Sunday for a press conference and face-off with Al Dah on Monday. But instead the sporting world has been left reeling from his passing. And Al Dah, also 46, wants to pay his own tribute to the former world champion.

"I want to do something for him," he told Mirror Fighting. "Me and my wife decided we want to support his family on the day of his funeral. "If it is okay for his family for someone to come from outside, I will get on a plane straight away. I am very sorry for his family and I want to give what support I can from my side. We also want to do an event for Ricky over here, something special to pay tribute to a legend."

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Hatton had not fought professionally since he was stopped by Vyacheslav Senchenko 13 years ago but did take part in an exhibition bout with fellow legend Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022. And Al Dah insisted Hatton wasn't returning to the ring for a cash grab.

"I have followed Ricky Hatton for a long time," he added. "I was inspired by him and I was so happy when he accepted the fight. In the last couple of months I have watched every one of his fights, I have followed him because I wanted to study his skills.

"People thought he was only fighting for the money, but when I gave him my vision about boxing in Dubai and the ideas I had, he accepted the fight straight away. I want to inspire the kids and teenagers over here and he agreed.

"I'm not sad about the fight, I'm sad about him. Sometimes in boxing, people love you or they hate you but from what I can see, everybody in the UK loved Ricky Hatton and he did a lot of things for boxing, for the community and he tried to change his life. I'm completely shocked, I feel like I've lost someone from my family."