By Jason Kim: Ricky Hatton’s career is in shambles at this point with his 2nd round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao. I don’t suspect that Hatton is going to retire, because he won’t want to go out of boxing with the kind of defeat that he suffered against Pacquiao. And I don’t think that Hatton is going to be satisfied by a fight against Michael Katsidis or some other beatable opponent that is trotted out for Hatton to get his confidence back.

Right now, it looks as if Hatton will never be a big PPV star again, but if he’s smart and willing to take a tough fight here or there, I see no reason why Hatton can’t get back to the top again. Firstly, I think Hatton needs to go after Amir Khan. That fight would be a tremendous fight in England, and probably in the U.S. as well.

Naturally, it would rest on whether Khan can get by World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Andriy Kotelnik, who Khan fights on June 27th. This is a very winnable fight for the glass-jawed Khan, because Kotelnik is more of a finesse fighter than a puncher.

The idea is that Hatton waits around to find out the outcome to that bout, let’s his head and ego recover from the Pacquiao fight, and then start working on negotiations with Khan. I know the two are close friends, but Hatton could really help Khan if he were to fight Amir.

That would be the best present for Khan, and it would likely end up as the biggest fight of Khan’s career. Can’t imagine Khan getting a bigger fight after that unless Pacquiao decides to fight him in the future, and that’s unlikely since Pacquiao is apparently set on retiring after fighting one more time.

A fight against Khan would be a win-win situation for Hatton, because what he doesn’t need right now is another huge puncher to step in the ring with. Hatton’s fans are going to be unforgiving of him if he picks some journeyman nobody to fight, especially if it’s going to be Hatton’s last fight.

Like I said, I doubt it will be Hatton’s final fight because he’s too young and has been competing for too long to quit suddenly like this. Hatton has boxing in the blood and won’t know what to do with himself even if he does quit. He’ll come back after six months or so and want to continue against someone.

This is why it’s important for Hatton to go after Khan right now as soon as possible. Hatton can’t afford to wait, because Khan will very likely be destroyed by someone in the future and his star will be greatly diminished after the second loss of his career.

Hatton already screwed up by not taking the fight with Oscar De La Hoya when he had the chance to. I guess Hatton thought that De La Hoya would always be around. Instead, Hatton fought Paulie Malignaggi for peanuts compared to what he would have received in a bout with De La Hoya. Hatton can’t miss out on another opportunity like this.

I say take on Khan now, because Amir will be in all likelihood finished in a year or so unless he continues fighting B level fighters or old ones like Marco Antonio Barrera. I think Hatton can probably still beat a fighter like Khan, but even if he can’t, this will give Hatton anther huge payday before he gets out of the sport.