By William Mackay: According to Fight News, former International Boxing Federation light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton has started training. Hatton is reportedly in talks with Juan Manuel Marquez for a fight in Machester next year. Both Hatton and Marquez are coming off of losses. Hatton was blasted out in two brutal rounds by Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd. Since that fight, Hatton had been trying to decide whether to continue fighting or not. Recently, Hatton said that he had regained the itch to continue on with his career. However, it may be for just one more fight depending on how well Hatton does in his next bout.

Marquez, 36, lost a lopsided 12 round decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on September 19th. Marquez didn’t have the size or the hand speed needed to compete with the larger and faster Mayweather. However, Marquez hung tough for 12 rounds and continued to pressure Mayweather until the very end of the fight. The nine pounds that Marquez put on to fight Mayweather seemed to slow Marquez down and make it hard for him to move as well as he normally does.

Hatton made a calculated mistake in his last fight with Pacquiao by rushing him early in the 1st round and trying to slug. In hindsight, this was the worst possible thing that Hatton could do against a fighter with the quickness and the power of Manny. Hatton just made it that much easier for Pacquiao to take him out by rushing him like that. Pacquiao quickly hurt Hatton and ended up putting him down two times in the 1st round.

In the 2nd, Hatton still didn’t seem to have learned his lesson about trying to attack Pacquiao, because he walked into a big left hand from Pacquiao and was knocked cold by the punch. Hatton’s trainer, Floyd Mayweather Jr, had told him before the bout to use his jab and move. Instead of doing that, Hatton went straight at Pacquiao trying to take his head off with hooks.

In the time that Hatton has been off since his last fight, he’s put on a great deal of weight and it’s going to take him a lot of time to melt the tonnage off. It’s a good sign that Ricky has started training this early, because he’s going to need at least five to six months to take off all that weight the right way. Hatton can’t continue to take off weight quickly because he’s looked weight drained in his fights with Mayweather and Pacquiao.

If Hatton can come in great condition for a fight with Marquez, he’ll have an excellent chance at beating the Mexican star. Hatton is the bigger fighter and has more power than Marquez. Ricky will have to find a way to avoid getting countered by Marquez.