By James Blears
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman is welcoming Ricky Hatton’s ring return, so he can retire a winner- but stresses that another title shot would raise eyebrows!
Ricky who won titles at Super Lightweight and Welterweight, got mauled by Floyd Mayweather Jr. before being dispatched, and knocked out cold by Manny Pacquiao.
Now more than three and a half years later he’s facing lofty Ukrainian Vyacheslav Senchenko on home turf, at the Manchester Arena on Saturday.
Sulaiman who described those two knockouts as: “Worrying, and that this worry should be expressed!”
Ricky has been passed fit to fight by the British Board of Boxing Control, but Sulaiman himself will be recommending a couple of other medical exams, and talking with Ricky at the WBC’s annual Convention in Cancun Dec 2-8.
He said: “Ricky should retire as a winner, but if be comes back for a long participation, then there would be a question mark. Going for another championship? I would question it but not forbid it. This would depend on his follow up medical examination and the way he comes back to fight.
Sulaiman also said: “Ricky is a very nice young man and I like him very much. He’s a proud British gentleman.”
