BRITISH boxing legend Ricky Hatton has revealed he’s open to making a sensational return to the ring – and The Hitman has set his sights on an exhibition with fellow great Oscar De La Hoya.
The Manc mauler hung up his gloves in 2012 after a brutal ninth-round loss to Vyacheslav Senchenko but has got himself back in decent shape.
And after seeing legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr roll back the years last November, the former two-division champion is interested in lacing up his gloves again.
The 42-year-old wrote in his Metro column: “I am all for these dream fights we keep hearing about.
“I have youngsters coming up to me, saying, ‘I’ve watched your fights on video but I never got to see you live!’
“And I think that is why I’m a fan of these exhibitions.
“You’re not going to see your heroes get seriously hurt, it is a chance to see them showcase their skills one last time and you can raise a bit of money for charity too, so I’m all for it.
“There’s a couple of picks that spring to mind for me.
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“If we are talking domestically, I would still love to see Joe Calzaghe vs Carl Froch.
“They very nearly came close to fighting, Joe was coming to the end, Carl was coming to the forefront.
“There is always those what-ifs, so if it were an exhibition between those two I think that would be quite a nice one for fight fans.
“If you are looking at heavyweights, we saw the talk of Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield.
“Tyson blew the cobwebs off against Roy Jones Jr and Evander always looks in wonderful condition every time you see him on social media.
“He’s always training, he’s always on the pads. But I’m not sure if Evander has enough of his ear left to do 8 or 10 rounds!”
“I’ll have a move about with Oscar De La Hoya if the opportunity comes!
“Oscar was a hero to a lot of people in boxing so it would be interesting even if it is only an exhibition.
“To share the ring with him and find out first-hand how good he was and maybe still is.”
Hatton will have to wait to get his hands on De La Hoya as the Olympic gold medallist will take on former UFC light-heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort in September.
The pride of Hyde is also interested in facing former fan favourites Miguel Cotto and Sugar Shane Mosley, adding: “Miguel Cotto would be a good one, Shane Mosley still looks after himself.
“The list goes on, me and Cotto, me and De La Hoya, De La Hoya vs Juan Manuel Marquez maybe!
“There are so many more. And I think I speak for all fight fans when I say we’d love to see a couple of these.”
