By William Mackay: Matthew Hatton (41-5-2, 16 KO’s) is eating a steady diet of kangaroo meat in getting ready for his bout on Friday against little known Andrei Abramenka (15-0-2, 3 KO’s) for the vacant International Boxing Federation International welterweight title at the Tower Circus, Blackpool, Lancashire, UK. Poor kangaroos. I can’t imagine eating one. They remind me of dogs for some reason.

Hatton, 30, has gone from a diet that included fatty foods like pork, to that of the Australian kangaroo meat, which has a lot less fat, and it’s helping Hatton. But in truth, it probably matters little what Hatton eats in getting ready for Abramanka. He could probably beat this guy on a steady diet of candy bars, because he’s simply got the better boxing pedigree.

You need to start worrying if Hatton falls apart and loses. If that’s the case then it’s time to hand up the gloves because he can stuff his mouth with as much kangaroo meat as possible, and it won’t give him the talent to beat the better welterweights in the division. Hatton thinks he should be getting a title shot against the WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko by the end of the year.

That’s a good safe pick for Hatton, because Sencenko is someone that is very beatable, and someone Hatton could beat if he can get a fight against him. Hatton’s goal is to fight Amir Khan next year. While it sounds like a pipe dream right now given that Hatton doesn’t have a title in his possession, but if he somehow is able to acquire the World Boxing Association title by beating Senchenko, you can bet that Khan will be all over Hatton trying to pick up a welterweight title the easy way.

Khan could use the paper title he would get from beating Hatton to use it as leverage to try and get better terms for a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. once he beats WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on September 17th.