Hatton Still Interested in Khan Fight, But Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting for it to Happen

By Eric Thomas: Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s) is still interested in fighting World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (21-1, 15 KO’s), but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be happening any time soon, if ever, because of Hatton’s desire to promote the fight. That’s not probably not going to happen, so unless Hatton gives up on that idea, we won’t be seeing this fight in near future.

“If I do decide to make a comeback and he [Khan] is still world champion he’s still at that level, then obviously being a light welterweight, it is a possibility,” Hatton said.

That doesn’t sound all that convincing if you ask me. Khan isn’t going to be sitting around waiting for Hatton to get back in the sport and start fighting again. Khan is looking at fighting a number of top fighters in the United States in the near future in an effort to make a name for himself. With Khan’s fragile chin, there’s a good possibility that he’ll be beaten if he takes on a good fighter like Devon Alexander, Marcos Maidana, Victor Ortiz, Kendall Holt and especially Timothy Bradley.

Hatton is hoping that Khan will still be a champion by the time he stops dithering about and make a decision about his career. Hatton is making a mistake by doing that because Khan is the farthest thing from being a dominating fighter in the light welterweight division, and can be beaten at any time if and when his promoter puts him in with a quality opponent.

Obviously, they know that Khan has to take on some quality fighters if he wants to make a name for himself in the U.S., as he won’t be able to get by with taking on the lesser fighters like he’s been doing in the past if he wants to become popular. One would hope that Khan’s mandatory challenger Dimitry Salita isn’t the fighter they have in mind in order to try to establish himself, because that isn’t going to happen. Indeed, this fight won’t likely draw interest at all because Salita is virtually unknown in the U.S., aside from hardcore boxing fans of the sport.

At any rate, a Khan-Hatton fight would draw much less money than a lot of people think it would because Hatton’s appeal has dropped off significantly in the U.S. after his recent 2nd round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd. A Khan-Hatton fight would do well in the UK where they could care less about Hatton’s loss, but the U.S. would be entirely different.

A Hatton-Khan fight won’t do well right now because Hatton hasn’t reestablished himself as a credible fighter after the Pacquiao loss. For people to want to see this fight, a number of things would have to happen first. Hatton would have to beat two to three good fighters in a convincing manner. Next, Khan would have to establish himself as a force in the U.S. by fighting talented fighters like Maidana, Alexander, Holt or Ortiz. It would take at least two good wins, possibly three for Khan to be become a star in America.

Khan won’t do it off a victory over Salita and a win against one of those aforementioned fighters. He’s going to have to show that he can beat at least two or three good fighters in the same way that Timothy Bradley just proved himself with wins over Junior Witter, Holt and Nate Campbell. It took Bradley three good wins to finally start getting the attention of U.S. fans, and he’s American himself. So, I’m hoping that Khan and his promoter are going into this with their head on straight and understand that Khan won’t become a star in the U.S. overnight and they won’t be able to do it by facing less than stellar opposition.

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