By Nate Anderson: In an article from Amir Khan’s promoter Frank Warren in The Sun, Warren left open the option for a potential future bout for Khan against light welterweight Ricky Hatton. Yesterday, a close friend of Hatton’s had said that Ricky would never fight Khan because of a short time table he has left in the sport. However, judging from what Warren is saying he’s thinking that it’s still possibility at some point in the future.
That’s great news, because if Khan can pick up a few more good wins under belt, beginning with the WBA light welterweight title from champion Andriy Kotelnik, who Khan will be fighting on June 27th, it will raise Khan’s status dramatically in the boxing world and make him a viable alternative for Hatton.
I highly doubt that Hatton will actually stick to his three fight timeline that he has for the remaining fights of his career. Win or lose against Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez and Floyd Mayweather Jr., the drive to compete will be too strong for him to get out of the sport with exhausting ever avenue there is before finally retiring.
At 31, possibly, 32, Hatton would be far too young to retire, and with Khan taking over as Britain’s biggest boxing star, Hatton probably won’t be able to resist the huge payday that he’d get to step in the ring and try to knock Khan’s block off. Hatton is the type of fighter that needs boxing, because without it he’ll likely balloon to over 250 pounds, end up with diabetes or coronary artery disease and end up blind, on kidney dialysis and dying an early death from stroke or a heart attack. This is why Hatton needs to stay in boxing for as long as possible to help protect him from himself and his tendencies to over indulge in food and drink.
More importantly, Hatton could be helping out Khan – a personal friend of his – who without Hatton giving him a shot, will be a fighter without a big named opponent in order to bring the huge payday that will set Khan up for life. It’s the least that Hatton can do for an old chum. Without Hatton, Khan will have to risk getting put into a permanent coma by fighting someone like Edwin Valero, Juan Manuel Marquez or Victor Ortiz. At least if Hatton beats him, he’ll be kind to Khan by knocking him out with a devastating body shot rather than going for his fragile chin and putting him down hard.
Khan has taken some heat for moving up to the light welterweight division, but as Warren tells it, he’s doing it because WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez has bouts already scheduled and wouldn’t be available for Khan to fight, so it’s best to keep Khan busy with fights that give him something with substance.
Of course, people will argue that Khan could have stayed at lightweight and fought Valero, Ali Funeka or Michael Katsidis, but those bouts probably would be dangerous for Khan’s health, and thus less meaningful as a fight against the soft-hitting Kotelnik.
However, none of those fights compare to a potential fight with Hatton. Now, that’s the jackpot that Khan needs to go after. I recommend that Khan take it easy for awhile, beat some top light welterweight like Kotelnik, make more of a name for himself and then in a year or two, try to get Hatton in the ring for a huge mega fight.
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