logo
Ricky Hatton unable to attend his own comeback announcement after being injured by sunglasses at Oasis gig

Ricky Hatton unable to attend his own comeback announcement after being injured by sunglasses at Oasis gig

Scottish Suna day ago
Hatton has been told not to fly as a result of the injury
HATT TO STAY BEHIND Ricky Hatton unable to attend his own comeback announcement after being injured by sunglasses at Oasis gig
RICKY HATTON was unable to attend his own comeback announcement after being injured by his SUNGLASSES watching Oasis.
British boxing great Hatton will make an Oasis-like comeback in December to fight Eisa Aldah in Dubai.
2
Ricky Hatton with his son Campbell and friends at the Oasis gig
Credit: @campbellhatton
The 46-year-old Manchester legend - who was in Cardiff on Friday night to see his old pals reunite - had his last professional bout in 2012.
But the City super-fan - who was walked to the ring by Noel and Liam for his 2008 win over Paulie Malignaggi - will slide between the ropes once again - 13 years later - to grab a punching pension pot in the desert.
The Gallagher brothers made their triumphant return this weekend after 16 years away and almost as many fights between them as on Hatton's 45-3 record.
The Hitman's opponent, 46-year-old Aldah, was the Gulf's first ever professional fighter.
READ MORE IN BOXING
HATT'S OUT THE BAG Hatton, 46, OUT of retirement after 13 years for huge December 2 bout
But, between 2008-2009, he won three fights in Welsh boxing backwaters of Newport and Merthyr Tydfil.
Hatton was due to fly out to Dubai this week to star in Sunday night's big-money launch press conference.
But he suffered an eye injury on his designer sunglasses at the Oasis reunion gig and was not cleared to travel until the injury heals.
The adored two-weight world champion struggled with depression and addiction following crushing defeats - at the backend of a legendary career - against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
But he - like Frank Bruno - has become a national treasure in retirement and a respected advocate on men's mental health.
The brilliant body puncher hit the headlines last month when he appeared with a shock skinhead.
But the working-class hero revealed he had braved the shave to support the Brain House Children's Hospice.
The Guinness-loving lad explained: 'Head shaved for @brianhousech.
'Won't be keeping the skinhead but it raised a right few quid for charity. So I'm more than happy to stomach it.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Are we entering a new era of left-wing infighting?
Are we entering a new era of left-wing infighting?

New Statesman​

time38 minutes ago

  • New Statesman​

Are we entering a new era of left-wing infighting?

Photo Credit: Peter Nicholls / Getty Images After occupying a supporting role over the past five years, the radical left of British politics has been suddenly thrust into the spotlight. For a while, attention has largely focused on Zack Polanski, the 'eco-populist' vying to be elected leader of the Green Party in September. (He currently stands as the favourite.) An influx of interviews, clever comms and his outgoing personality took Polanski from a relative unknown to being anointed by some as the leader of the modern left-in-waiting. Late last Thursday evening (July 3), everything changed. After months of speculation, the British left's worst-kept secret was abruptly made official: Zara Sultana MP announced that she would resign from Labour and start a new, left-wing party alongside former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. (Sultana was suspended from Labour last July after voting against the two-child benefit cap.) There are still a lot of questions to be answered of this new left alliance: most pertinent of all concerning Corbyn – who was reportedly 'furious and bewildered' about the sudden announcement – and his involvement. 'Join us. The time is now,' Sultana urged in her declaration on X. Could this mean that Polanski and the Green party's riding of the new-left alternative wave is over? It could've turned out so differently. Another whisper doing the rounds at the same time as the Sultana-Corbyn party was the former having discussions with Polanski and potentially defecting to the Greens. 'I have thought about rolling out the red carpet for people like Zarah Sultana,' Polanski told my colleague Megan Kenyon in May. Talks happened, but the prospect of joining the Greens back in the spring never truly appealed to Sultana. Nor, does it seem, from her summer announcement, that Sultana is interested in any collaboration or pact with Polanski and his party. 'Billionaires already have three parties fighting for them. It's time the rest of us had one,' Sultana's statement read. It's very obviously a dig at the interests of Labour, the Conservatives and Lib Dems – but also a more implicit slight on the Green Party and its current (and future) ability to advance a progressive agenda. Despite getting rebuked by Sultana, Polanski's – public – reaction to the new party-slash-rival is one of a diplomat: 'Anyone who wants to take on the Tories, Reform and this failing Labour government is a friend of mine. Looking forward to seeing what this looks like in practice.' The left, in pursuit of its goals, often meets a persistent, often impenetrable force: the left. Left-on-left infighting isn't new, but should history repeat itself in today's political climate, it could detract from the shared aim of both Sultana and the Greens: to stop Nigel Farage's Reform Party and its lead in the polls. Exclusive polling shared with the New Statesman by More in Common found that a 'new Corbyn-led party' would receive 10 per cent of votes if an election was held today. Rather than harm, this analysis suggests, it would bolster Reform's lead in the polls (currently 27 per cent) by splitting the 'left' vote by cutting Labour's share by three points (from 23 per cent) and the Greens by four (from 9 per cent). The hard-yards earned by the Greens over the past year – from quadrupling its Parliamentary representation at last year's election, to building on its presence in regional government in May's local elections – could be lost with the inception of a new Sultana-Corbyn led party. Still, all hope is not lost for the Greens. Especially for Polanski: membership of the Green Party has reportedly risen at least 8 per cent since May (when he launched his leadership bid), in what some have described as a 'Polanski surge'. The findings from Novara Media suggest that the party (which has not officially declared its latest figures) has at least 65,000 members, a smidge behind its 2015 peak of 67,000. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe If a week's a long time in politics, then a year is a lifetime. When I followed the outgoing Green co-leader Carla Denyer on the campaign trail in Bristol last year, she told me that the overwhelming priority for the party, nationally, was to highlight its own merits – rather than just being seen as the logical place for Corbynistas to go following Labour's 'return to form' towards the centre of British politics. She raised the 2019 election, when she missed out on the Bristol seat she later won in 2024. The difficulty wasn't in winning the argument, Denyer told me, but of national circumstances: 'The challenge [in 2019] was that constituents wanted the Conservatives out, and they felt that they had to vote Labour to do that. We had people saying: 'We agree with you more… [but we] have to vote Labour this time.'' With Reform currently leading the polls as it is, perhaps history may repeat itself – only with the Tories being recast by Farage and Reform. That will be a challenge the Greens, a Sultana-Corbyn party and indeed Labour will have to contend with. But an ever more divided left could make that challenge extremely difficult to overcome. Related

BBC true crime series unveils 'Bad Nanny' who scammed vulnerable families
BBC true crime series unveils 'Bad Nanny' who scammed vulnerable families

Daily Mirror

time42 minutes ago

  • Daily Mirror

BBC true crime series unveils 'Bad Nanny' who scammed vulnerable families

Serial con-artist Samantha Cookes assumed multiple identities and made up wild stories. BBC's documentary tonight sheds a light on the true crime case Like an evil Mary Poppins, serial con-artist Samantha Cookes posed as a nanny and scammed families with disabled children - even taking their money for a fake trip to Lapland. Gripping two-parter Bad Nanny (Tues 8th July, BBC1, 10.45pm) rakes over all the shocking details of this true crime case, that saw Cookes assume multiple identities, including a child therapist, an arts teacher and a surrogate mother, to con families in the UK and Ireland between 2011 and 2024. She even posed on TikTok as Carrie Jade Williams, a terminally ill woman and disability activist, winning the sympathy and support of thousands. But when one of her posts went viral, some followers became suspicious and began to dig, discovering her real name was Samantha Cookes, a fraud with multiple aliases and a troubling history. ‌ Speaking for the first time, Katie and Luke in North Yorkshire describe how she posed as a surrogate mother, defrauding them of their savings. ‌ Mother-of-three Layla describes how she believed she was hiring 'Lucy Hart', a Mary Poppins-like au pair at their home in County Offaly. When Layla became suspicious, 'Lucy' vanished, leaving an ominous note that left Layla fearing for her children. And Dublin mums Lorraine and Lynn reveal how they hired 'Lucy Fitzwilliams' as a child therapist for their disabled children, eventually handed over desposits for a fake trip to Lapland. 'Lucy' also told wild stories, pretending she was the 3M company heiress and was set to marry a pastor. Lorraine says: 'She took advantage of people's trust and their emotions and vulnerability.' Bad Nanny is airing on BBC One tonight at 10.45pm There's plenty more on TV tonight - here's the best of the rest... TRAINWRECK: THE REAL PROJECT X, NETFLIX ‌ The Trainwreck documentary series revisits headline-making events that went terribly wrong. This latest instalment recounts what happened when a teen's birthday invite accidentally went viral on Facebook, leading to a full-blown riot. In 2012, a teenage girl in the small Netherlands town of Haren created a Facebook event for her sixteenth birthday party, but made the page public instead of private. Inspired by a love of the Hollywood movie Project X, which saw three high school seniors throw a party that spiralled out of control, Dutch teenagers made the event go viral, and soon thousands of people had RSVP'd. Despite warnings, police and local authorities didn't seem to think that anyone would turn up, so no provisions were made to entertain the 3,000 young people who arrived in Haren. Before long the quiet Dutch town became host to a night of drunken chaos, the birthday girl fled her home and riot police were deployed. If it wasn't true, you'd never believe it… ‌ SHARKS UP CLOSE WITH BERTIE GREGORY, NAT GEO WILD, 8pm Wildlife filmmaker Bertie Gregory is a braver man than most as he gets extremely up close to some scary-looking sharks. Arriving on the coast of South Africa, he says: 'I have dived with a lot of sharks around the world, but I have never seen the most famous and the most feared - the Great White. I'm going to try something that my mum really doesn't want me to do. I'm going to dive with a Great White Shark without a cage.' There is only one place where this is possible, thanks to its shallow waters, which prevent sharks from attacking from below, and clear visibility, which allows the team to see the predators coming. It still doesn't feel completely reassuring. Bertie works alongside local shark spotters, a community-led initiative developed in response to past fatal shark attacks. Their shared mission is to explore how humans and Great White sharks might coexist in these waters. With a cage, I'd suggest… ‌ A YORKSHIRE FARM, 5, 7pm As a new series kicks off, farmers Rob and Dave Nicholson pick sloes from their farm hedgerows before turning them into artisanal chocolate. JB Gill takes a trip to the rolling hills of Wales, visiting a farmer who is reaping the rewards from a rather unusual diversification - he's making medicine from daffodils. And on his farm in the Cotswolds, Adam Henson works hard looking after his native pigs, which are some of the rarest breeds in the UK. ‌ EMMERDALE, ITV1, 7.30pm Joe is fearful as the harassment campaign against him continues with an envelope containing a blackmail demand for £100,000 being placed in the Home Farm kitchen. Unsure of who else to trust, Joe shows the blackmail demand to Sam, but he's none-the-wiser. When Ross confronts Robert about the missing weed, Robert threatens to cancel the land deal with Moira, forcing Ross to back down. Forced to take Gabby's car to Kammy at the garage, Vinny faces unavoidable questions about his sexuality.

Spice Girl's Mel B ditches wild girl reputation for 'low key' wedding bash
Spice Girl's Mel B ditches wild girl reputation for 'low key' wedding bash

Daily Mirror

time42 minutes ago

  • Daily Mirror

Spice Girl's Mel B ditches wild girl reputation for 'low key' wedding bash

Mel B, known as Scary Spice in the Spice Girls, tied the knot at St Paul's Cathedral in London on Saturday - but it is understood the wedding reception was "rather low key" Mel B opted for a "rather low key" wedding reception on Saturday - with many guests leaving by 7pm. The singer took pals and family to a bar at The Shard skyscraper after she tied the knot to Rory McPhee, and many guests are said to have anticipated a wild late night bash. However, it is believed it was actually a tamer affair with guests going home after less than three hours. ‌ One guest said: "I'd sort of thought for Scary Spice it would be a massive late night party with all the usual showbiz excess but it was the total opposite – it was actually rather low key." ‌ It was reported Scary Spice, 50, had spent £28,000 on the reception, which followed a lavish ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral in central London where Mel B and Rory said their vows. They had been engaged for three years, but known each other for some time as he has worked as her hairstylist. And the guest told Mail Online they felt Mel B's calm bash reflected how the singer and songwriter may have now "settled down" following her years with a reputation for being quite the wild girl. READ MORE: Inside Mel B's wedding as pals feared Rory McPhee would be 'left at the altar' ‌ Speaking in the days after Saturday's celebrations, the insider added: "Perhaps she's grown up a lot in the last few years and settled down. It was all a long way from how she used to be." Mel's children, Phoenix, 26, and Angel, 18, spent much of the festivities stood outside the hotel entrance smoking rolled up cigarettes – with security even moving them away from the well-heeled venue to avoid upsetting other residents and visitors. While fans were eager to spot fellow Spice Girls in attendance, only Emma Bunton, 49, was photographed at the event. As Mel C couldn't attend, she took to her Instagram page to pay tribute to her pal. ‌ Meanwhile, Geri Horner was noticeably absent as Mel tied the knot with fiancé Rory. Geri also chose not to post any well wishes to Mel B on social media, adding further fuel to the fire on their rift. It's said Mel B and her new husband, along with their guests, enjoyed a lavish reception at the Shangri-La at The Shard for drinks, food, followed by an evening filled with dancing. Although the couple already enjoyed a ceremony, it has been revealed there will be a second ceremony abroad this summer, which Mel B says will be "more informal, sexy and beautiful". It will act as a second chance for Mel's former bandmates to celebrate her marriage. She told The Sun: "In one incredible afternoon I found two perfect dresses. One beautiful classic dress by Josephine Scott, a British designer, and one stunning dramatic dress by a US designer, Justin Alexander."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store