British boxing legend Ricky Hatton has confirmed that his exhibition fight against Marco Antonio Barrera has been postponed until November 12.

The bout was due to take place on July 2 at the AO Arena in Manchester and would’ve seen Hatton return to the ring for the first time since his ill-fated comeback fight against Vyacheslav Senchenko in 2012.

After days of rumours about ‘The Hitman’ calling off his fight, he took to social media on Friday to confirm that his match-up with Barrera would no longer go ahead next month as planned.

“Gutted the fight fell through. I’d worked so f****** hard. But I’m staying at it. Me & Marco Antonio Barrera will be back in November. The show still goes on passing all me experience on to my son,” Hatton wrote on Instagram.

The 43-year-old was supposed to return to the ring on the same night Hughie Fury squared off against Michael Hunter in the same arena.

One ticket was set to be valid for fans to see both fights and a deal had been struck for Hatton’s event to join the BOXXER show in being broadcast on Sky.

Unfortunately, Fury picked up an illness that ruled him out of his July 2 date with Hunter and subsequently cast doubt over Hatton’s comeback fight.

The fan favourite fighter was initially coy about whether Fury’s fight postponement would have an impact on his comeback.

“Gutted to hear that Hughie Fury is injured and wish him a speedy recovery. Talks ongoing but not decided yet about whether to move my bout on July 2 as well, as it was on the same bill. I will let my fans know the outcome here first,” he wrote on social media.

Hatton released a lengthy statement on Twitter, while Sky also confirmed the fight had been postponed and would be ‘rescheduled on the Fury vs Hunter bill’.

This comes as a blow to Hatton who has undergone an impressive body transformation to get himself back in fight shape.

The Manchester man recently revealed he has been having the time of his life during his first fight camp in 10 years.

“Everything just seems to be just falling into place. I’m getting a few little aches as you’d expect at the age of 43 but I don’t think I’ve ever been happier,” Hatton told talkSPORT.

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/1...ght-postponed/