By Sean McDaniel: Former International Boxing Federation light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton is looking to go out in style by fighting a brawl that boxing fans will remember him by. In an article with the Guardian, Hatton, 31, said “The manner in which I mended my defeat [referring to his 2nd round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao on May 1st] is not really the way I would like to bow out. I’d like to bow out like Kostya [Tszyu] did [in his battle with Hatton in 2005] in an absolute war of a fight, a wonder fight with great sportsmanship.”

It looks like Hatton is hoping to have one more glorious bout to go out on. Unfortunately, things don’t usually end that way for fading fighters like Hatton. Although it would be nice for Hatton and other aging boxers to go out on a high note by fighting an exciting war against a top fighter. But most of the time, it ends badly for the aging fighter as they end up taking a beating and get knocked out. Depending on the quality of the opponent for Hatton, he could very well end up getting knocked flat again like he did in his last fight against Pacquiao.

Hatton has been out of the ring for the past seven months, the longest period since starting his pro career in 1997. The time off from boxing hasn’t been good for Hatton’s physique. Hatton looks incredibly heavy with a noticeable pot belly. Hatton can probably take the weight off in five or six months with hard training but it’s unclear how well he’ll be able to perform after taking off that amount of blubber from his frame. The fat that Hatton is carrying around has made him look much older than a typical 31-year-old, almost like a person nearing 40 rather than someone who just turned 31.

For some reason, Hatton is saying he doesn’t want to fight WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan. It seems self defeating for Hatton not to be interested in that fight because Khan, with his glass jaw, would seem to be the perfect opponent for Hatton to come back against. All Hatton would have to do is guard against Khan’s occasional combinations and he’d have a great chance of catching up to Khan and landing something big on Khan’s weak chin.

Khan is a much more passive fighter compared to Pacquiao, who Hatton just lost to. Hatton made it easy for Pacquiao by going right after him and trying to slug with the Filipino star for some strange reason. What Hatton needs is a tune-up fight and then a bout against someone like Khan or Juan Manuel Marquez. If Hatton goes into either of those fights without a tune-up, he’ll be taking a big risk.

Hatton has been out of the sport for too long, put on too much weight through poor eating habits and may have problems taking hard shots. Both Khan and Marquez have good power, more than enough to knock Hatton out if they catch him with a big shot. Hatton should look at fighting a weak light welterweight like Paulie Malignaggi again to get his confidence back and improve his timing.