By Sean McDaniel: WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (31-4, 7 KO’s) says on his twitter that he’d like to face Ricky Hatton again if possible. Malignaggi, 31, was stopped in the 11th round by Hatton four years ago in a one-sided fight in November 2008 in Hatton’s second to last fight of his career before retiring.

Malignaggi said on his twitter “If the rumors are true about Ricky Hatton. I would love that rematch. Be a great fight for all the boxing fans worldwide.”

Malignaggi was thought to be pretty much a finished fighter after that bout, as he was later beaten by Juan Diaz and Amir Khan. However, Malignaggi has done a great job of resurrecting his career by moving up to the welterweight division and facing beatable opposition that couldn’t trouble him. In his last fight, Malignaggi captured the WBA welterweight title in beating champion Vyacheslav Senchenko by a 9th round stoppage last April to capture the title. Malignaggi is now looking to defend the title against the best possible opponent. Hatton would be a dream come true for Malignaggi, because most likely Malignaggi will only get one fight to milk his title before defending it – and likely losing it – to #3 WBA Thomas Dulorme.

It would be a long shot for Hatton to make a comeback. He’s been out of the ring for three years since being blown out by Manny Pacquiao in a 2nd round TKO loss in May 2009. Although Hatton is only 33 and still young, he’s grown really fat since his fighting days have ended and just trying to take off all that fat would be a major obstacle for Hatton. It’s likely that Hatton could still beat Malignaggi even now, but to get Hatton to want to burn off all that fat would likely be the killer in the deal. He seems content with his life and doesn’t really need the money he’d get for facing Malignaggi a second time.