Rumor: Ricky Hatton to return in November

Pat Sheehan of The Sun reports that Ricky Hatton is planning a November return to action in England, though no official announcement of any sort has been made. He says that Hatton has already started talking about opponents, and hold on to your hats, folks, this could be a big one.

Hatton is looking into fighting... OK, are you sitting down?

WBA welterweight titlist (of some sort) Vyacheslav Senchenko! THAT'S RIGHT! The Vyacheslav Senchenko!

Senchenko is a Ukrainian with a 29-0 (20) record who won his (some sort of) title from Yuri Nuzhenko via 12-round decision in April. He's 5'10" with a 70" reach, which gives him a distinct physical advantage against the 5'7" Hatton, whose 65" reach has been a serious hindrance in welterweight bouts past.

I mean no great offense to Senchenko, but he's about as no-name as a major titleholder (of some sort) can get. This would be Hatton's way of pretending he's not taking a tune-up because the guy holds a trinket. It's a tune-up. Even with the undefeated record, it's a tune-up.

This doesn't answer the question of whether or not Ricky is simply looking for one more fight so he can go out with a win (he's stated numerous times he hates the idea of quitting on a loss), or if he'll try to make his way back into a big money fight.

To say this isn't the comeback fight some would have hoped for is a gross understatement, and I don't think this thing would find American TV unless the promoters got Ron Popeil to host the broadcast. But if Hatton wants to fight on and this is the sort of fight he's looking for, then all the best to him. Given my Hatton fandom, I'd surely find some way to watch.