By Adam Hill: The Manchester Evening News Arena was filled with electric nostalgia and the booms of drums echoed throughout the stadium. Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton (45-2) didn’t look likely to ever return to the ring- well documented personal battles and terrifying memories of a night and a Filipino three years ago almost breaking his warrior spirit. After an exciting undercard the time had come to see whether Ricky Hatton was still a contender.
Vyacheslav Senchenko (32-1), sporting a Manchester United shirt (Ricky being a fan of arch-rivals Manchester City), entered the ring intent on destroying the hopes of everyone at ringside.
Then, as if he had never left, the crowd erupted on reception of Hatton. Michael Buffer, unable to be heard over the roar of the Hitman faithful, struggled through the pre-fight proceedings before the bell rang and the two fighters began to circle. The bout was scheduled for 10 rounds.