Ricky Hatton has issued a warning to Oscar De La Hoya about making a comeback into professional boxing.
‘Golden Boy’ De La Hoya told ESPN on Monday he was “very serious” about making a return to the ring seven years after his retirement, with Floyd Mayweather Jr and unbeaten knockout specialist Gennady Golovkin already being touted as potential opponents.
However, Hatton, who saw his own 2012 comeback end in a stoppage defeat to Vyacheslav Senchenko in Manchester, does not believe the former six-division world champion is making the right decision.
Hatton told Sky Sports: “Am I surprised? Yes and no. It never surprises me when a boxer wants to make a comeback. When a fighter had so much success like Oscar did, the hardest thing is to let go.
“Do I think it’s the right decision? No, I have to say I don’t. Needless to say, I wish him all the very best but he’s 42. It’s just so hard to finally hard to say goodbye to the sport.
“I felt like I had to come back because I’d let so many people down. I don’t know whether Oscar feels the same.
“He’s talking about going right in at the deep end with a Floyd Mayweather rematch. He’s not talking about having an easy one back. I wish him well and only he knows why he feels the need to do it. If it’s a genuine reason then he’s got to do it.
“I picked a dangerous opponent for my first fight back and in hindsight maybe I should have picked an easier opponent than Senchenko for my first fight back.
“Oscar has never really been a middleweight so the idea of him fighting such a ferocious puncher as Gennady Golovkin, I can’t see it being a pleasant comeback. I hope I’m wrong because I consider him a friend and I don’t want to see him get hurt.”
De La Hoya’s last fight ended in an eighth-round retirement to Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2008.
