By Liam Fitzgerald: Ricky Hatton has recently been giving the strongest hints yet that he will make a return to the ring. He still maintains that he will make a final decision after the New Year but in his own words his “feet are starting to itch”, meaning a comeback is almost inevitable.

Hatton of course last fought in May when he suffered a devastating 2nd round knockout defeat to Manny Pacquiao. However, this defeat doesn’t seem to have dampened the Englishman’s desire as he is not interested in an easy comeback fight. He has stated that he only wants to fight the best, with a rematch against Floyd “Money” Mayweather at the top of his agenda. It’s understandable that a fighter only wants big fights at the end of his career but the question must be asked; does Hatton deserve to be back in the ring with Mayweather?

For me at this moment, the answer is an emphatic no. Hatton has proved that he is a force at light-welterweight with credible wins over Kostya Tszyu and Jose Luis Castillo amongst others but when stepping up in class, Hatton has been badly exposed by Mayweather and Pacquiao. For this reason he doesn’t deserve a crack at the big boys. However, that’s not to say he shouldn’t attempt a comeback and possibly grace the ring with the p4p number 1 again.

I think Hatton needs to prove himself again. And I believe the best way of him doing that is with a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. The Mexican legend is coming off a 12 round schooling from Mayweather in a welterweight class. However, this wasn’t the same Marquez who has arguably been the best fighter of the planet in the last couple of years as the extra weight significantly affected his performance. He looked very slow and hardly landed any clean punches. He clearly shouldn’t be campaigning at welterweight so a drop down is necessary and a fight with Hatton would be beneficial for both.

Marquez has already said that he would welcome this bout. And why wouldn’t he because a victory for him would surely put him in the mix for rematches with Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. But it’s a fight that could be equally significant for Hatton. Marquez is aging and we can’t yet be sure if it was this, rather than weight issues, which was the main factor in his defeat to “Money”. Plus, Marquez has always been a slow starter and Hatton, though not a devastating one punch KO artist, could exploit this with his excellent body punches. They could be crucial in putting money in the bank and slowing Marquez down even more. It is definitely a winnable fight for Hatton as long as he sticks to what he knows instead of trying to adopt a new approach, something which proved disastrous against Pacquiao. In Hatton’s case, you definitely can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Let’s assume that Hatton beats Marquez, which is not something I think is definite, but certainly possible. He will have shown that he is not yet finished and can compete with the best fighters out there. However, I still feel he would need to overcome another obstacle in order to earn the right to take on Pacquiao or Mayweather. Timothy Bradley is without doubt the best current light-welterweight out there and I would love to see Hatton take him on. Firstly, Bradley will have to get past the also exciting Lamont Peterson but hypothetically let’s say he wins and is in a position to fight Hatton next summer for example. The contrasting styles would make for an intriguing battle in which either man could come out on top. I would favour the slick skills of Bradley, as well as his underrated inside fighting, to come out on top but I don’t think Hatton can easily be discounted. His punch resistance is worrying yes, but Bradley is not a big puncher and he has not yet fought someone who pressures him as much as Hatton. This fight would be very interesting and close and a victory for Hatton surely would give him the justification to target the likes of Mayweather again.

So there is my two step plan for Ricky Hatton to return to boxing and turn himself into a legitimate contender once again. Of course all of this could prove to be wishful thinking and that depends on a couple of things. Firstly, could Hatton physically get himself into shape to slug it out with the best once again? The age old issue of him ballooning up in weight between his fights is still hanging around and unless he really commits to training hard and having a healthier lifestyle outside of the ring, none of what I have written could become reality. Secondly, what is Hatton’s motivation now? He is already adored by his many British fans but doesn’t get too much positive recognition in the rest of the boxing world. If Hatton truly wanted to prove he was one of the best in this era, he would target the likes of Marquez and Bradley. However, if he is satisfied to just remain a legend in his own country then he should just retire or set up a fairly insignificant bout with the overrated Amir Khan, the current WBA light-welterweight champion. It all depends on the man himself. I have given my opinion on how I think he should come back but Hatton may feel he already deserves to get back in the ring with Mayweather. If this is how he feels, unfortunately I feel he would succumb to an even heavier defeat this time around.