By Sean McDaniel: According to Steve Bunce, Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s) is considering making a comeback in the middle of 2010 against a still to be determined opponent. Hatton, 31, is open to the idea of fighting World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan, but says that he wants to have a part in promoting the fight. It doesn’t seem, however, that Hatton is looking to fight Khan next.

It’s a good thing, because Khan would be the wrong opponent for Hatton at this point coming off a long lay off. Hatton needs someone easier like Oscar De La Hoya. That would be an excellent fight or Hatton, and one that he’d have a great chance to win if he can take off enough weight to fight De La Hoya.

Both Hatton and De La Hoya were knockout victims of Manny Pacquiao, so they have that in common. De La Hoya lasted a bit longer than Hatton, making it all the way to the 8th before the one-sided fight was finally stopped. But De La Hoya hardly did any better than Hatton, because he mainly soaked up punishment and was more or less a human punching bag for Pacquiao.

De La Hoya might be interested in fighting Hatton, because he knows how much money the fight would likely make, and he might feel that he has a good chance of beating Hatton due to Ricky’s 2nd round blowout loss to Pacquiao in May. De La Hoya, if he wasn’t starving himself to make weight, might very well have a great chance of beating Hatton up and even stopping him if De La Hoya goes at Hatton hard in the early rounds of the fight.

De La Hoya was able to destroy Ricardo Mayorga in a 6th round stoppage three years ago by attacking him with fast punches early in the fight and hurting him. I don’t think that De La Hoya is as shot as some people think he is. He lost his last fight against Pacquiao, but De La Hoya was badly weight drained from a low calorie diet leading up to the fight in order to make the 147 pound weight limit.

If De La Hoya were to fight Hatton, the fight would have to be at least 154 for De La Hoya not to have the same thing happen again. I think this weight would work perfectly for Hatton as well, because of him to take off all the weight that he’s gained in the past seven months since he last fought, it’s going to take a long time and it will likely leave Hatton weight drained if he tries to come in at his old weight of 140.

In recent photos that I’ve seen of Hatton, he looks like a mini Goodyear blimp, much heavier than I’ve seen him get in the past. Weight issues aside, I think De La Hoya and Hatton would be a great fight, and a much better option than a fight against Khan. Amir isn’t well known enough in the U.S. for this fight to be huge over there, which is why Hatton would be better off trying to lure De La Hoya out of retirement for a fight. It would be great while it lasted. It’s hard to say who would win the bout because both of them looked not at their best in their last fights.