By Eric Thomas: Golden Boy Promotions is looking to set up a bout between lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO’s) and Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s). Marquez, 36, as well as his trainer Nacho Beristan, are very interested in setting this fight up next if possible. The bout, if it does take place, would be at light welterweight rather than Marquez’s lightweight class.

The only problem is whether Hatton, 30, would be interested in fighting Marquez. Hatton was knocked out in the 2nd round on May 2nd by Manny Pacquiao, and since then, Hatton hasn’t had the desire to fight anyone. At the same time, Hatton isn’t hurting for potential opponents as he’s already been called out by a high number of top fighters since his loss to Pacquiao.

Marquez is just another one of the long line of potential opponents for Hatton. Marquez would be a good fighter for Hatton to get back in the ring against because Marquez appeared weak and slow in his lopsided 12 round decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on September 19th.

It would probably be a fairly safe fight for Hatton to take if he was worried about being knocked out again. Marquez, more of a super featherweight than a true lightweight, would likely be too small to trouble Hatton much and would have problems with Ricky’s power shots on the inside.

However, Hatton is lacking motivation right now to get in the ring. It’s unknown whether he’s looking for a suitable – read: beatable – opponent or just an urge to get back in there against somebody. Hatton certainly isn’t hurting for money after making a huge amount of money in his fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao. Hatton, unlike other fighters, doesn’t need to stay active to keep putting bread on the table, because he’s already set for life with the money he’s made in the sport.

This, along with his recent poor performances against Mayweather, Juan Lazcano and Pacquiao, are perhaps the main reasons why Hatton isn’t so quick to get back into the ring at this time. If Hatton were to take Golden Boy’s offer for a fight against Marquez, this would be a fight that would interest a lot of fans.

Marquez would being in a lot of Mexican boxing fans for a pay-per-view bout, and despite his thumping by Mayweather earlier this month, Marquez remains a very popular fighter. This would be competitive fight, even though I see Hatton winning most if not all the rounds. Marquez would make it tough on him by brawling the whole time and not backing down to Hatton’s superior fire power.

Hatton hasn’t fought in four months, and it’s important that he not stay out of boxing for too long. Smaller fighters like himself can’t afford to stay inactive for long periods of time without losing a lot of their skills through inactivity. For a fighter like Hatton’s its even more important that he stay busy because he has a tendency to eat and sometimes drink a lot, causing him to put on weight.

If Hatton gets too big, it might become impossible for him to make it back down to the light welterweight division without him starving himself and becoming weakened in the process.