By Tom Graves: Over a year ago on the 2nd of May 2009 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the pride of Manchester Ricky Hatton was decimated in under two rounds by the now seven weight-world champion Manny Paquiao, since that astonishing night there have been a large number of rumours circulating around the media concerning the future of The Hitman.

The man himself has regularly commented on the matter, once saying in an interview “I’ve decided to give it another go this year, no date yet and no opponent been confirmed”, since then it had been reported he began training but apparently left the camp to go on holiday as he did not have the desire to carry on, more recently he stated for the public to not listen to any rumours and to wait and hear officially from him on whether he will retire or make a return to the ring.

A number of potential opponents have been mentioned in the hype of his possible comeback, the main names were Juan Manuel Marquez, Amir Khan and even a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr, but in reality after 13 months of inactivity in the sport and ballooning up in weight way over the light-welter/ welter weight limit, being matched against the calibre of boxers he could once competitively fight against is a bad choice for a comeback fight.

A better comeback opponent for The Hitman would be a boxer in the same position as him, an ex-champion who has been relatively in-active in the sport and whom has only been defeated by world champions. One particular name which fits that criteria is former WBC light-welterweight champion Junior Witter, who is aiming to rebuild his career with a fight this September, after a knee injury forced him to undergo surgery and complete six months of recuperation.

Hatton and Witter have fought at the same weights in their career and have both only been beaten by world champions, during the rise of these two boxers they were known as domestic rivals, calling each other out several times only for the match-up to never materialise. Both men were worthy ambassadors of British boxing at a world level, have impressive records and both posses a good knockout percentage. The bout not only makes sense concerning the state of their careers but also their ages, both fighters are in their thirties and have been professionally boxing since 1997. This well overdue match-up is perfect for the return of both boxers after a fairly long hiatus to progress them back to world level or to find out if they just don’t possess the will, talent, or determination in which they have been known for.

This fight has the potential to be one of the best British bouts of the last few years, who better to fight against each other than two hard hitting former world champions, who have a grudge between them and whose names have been thrown together as a dream domestic welterweight brawl in the past. Both men have points to prove and this match up could get them on the way to overcome the trials and tribulations of their legacies.