By Dave Lahr: Once beaten lightweight Amir Khan (20-1, 15 KO’s) said that he’s interested in facing Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather Jr. recently, saying that he’s looking to fight them once he gets done with his fight with World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Andriy Kotelnik on June 27th.
So assuming that Hatton and Maywweather Jr. are interested in fighting Khan, could Amir actually beat the two of them? Khan, 22, except for his fight with Breidis Prescott last year, has faced fighters that are well below the talent of Hatton and Mayweather in talent.
Khan didn’t do well against Prescott, getting knocked out in the 1st round in their September 2008 bout. However, in choosing a fighter like Hatton to fight, Khan would possibly be getting another faded talent like Marco Antonio Barrera, who Khan defeated by a 5th round technical decision in his last fight.
Hatton was knocked out in the 2nd round by Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd, suffering a really bad knockout in which Hatton was unconcious for three minutes. With a knockout as bad as that, Hatton might not be able to take getting hit hard by a fast puncher like Khan without suffering another knockout loss.
Khan would have the height and reach advantage over the 5’7” Hatton, if not the strength. The speed alone for Khan might be all he needs, because Hatton would no doubt be coming at him to try and pressure him with power shots. Hatton might play it safe for a round or two and focus on trying to use his boxing skills on the outside.
I doubt that would work very well for Hatton, who would get nailed a lot by the quicker and longer-armed Khan, and would be angered into a going after Khan. This is where Hatton would be in big danger of getting hit with a punch that he doesn’t see from Khan and knocked down.
Khan punches nearly as fast as Manny Pacquiao, and Hatton couldn’t see Manny’s punches coming at him in their fight. If Khan can hurt Hatton, then the fight is effectively over, because Amir will flurry on Hatton and knock him down repeatedly until the fight is eventually stopped by the referee to save Hatton from taking more punishment.
Khan, with his new trainer Freddie Roach, would have been a dangerous opponent for Hatton at any point in Ricky’s career, since Khan doesn’t like allow his opponents to get in close with him to wrestle and hold like Hatton. Khan’s movement is too good and he won’t be trapped into the kind of grappling, shoving, holding and hitting contest that Hatton does really well at.
Mayweather would be a totally diffeent matter for Khan. Floyd would be much too good for Khan and would pick him apart with pinpoint shots. Mayweather’s hand speed has probably lost a little in the past two years that he’s been away from the sport, but I imagine that Mayweather is still plenty quick enough to hit Khan whenever he pleases. Because of that, this fight will likely end fast within a couple of rounds as Mayweather takes Khan out with some short right hands.
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