By Sean McDaniel: Matthew Hatton takes on Andrei Abramenka this Friday night for the IBF Intercontinental welterweight title. This belt isn’t what Hatton is trying to attain by beating Abramenka.

Hatton wants to keep his hopes alive for a world title shot against WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko or even better, a fight against Amir Khan after he moves up to the welterweight division next year.

Khan won’t have a title right off the bat, but a fight against him will still be a big money fight if they can put it at the Wembley Arena.

Hatton recently showed that he’s got what it takes to hang with world class fighters when he lasted the full 12 against hard hitting junior middleweight Saul Alvarez.

Hatton lost that fight by a one-sided 12 round decision but he kept firing back shots at Alvarez the entire fight and made him work hard to get the win.

What Hatton needs is an impressive win over Abramenka to generate some noise and catch the eye of champion Senchenko or perhaps one of the other welterweight champs.

Hatton likes his chances in a fight against Khan if he can get one. Hatton’s brother Ricky chose not to fight Khan because of his youth and because he saw Khan as a friend.

However, a fight between Matthew and Khan would be interesting because boxing fans would get to see how one of the Hatton brothers would do against Khan’s hand speed and fighting ability.

Hatton would also be interested in taking on Kell Brook. That would be an exciting fight that would draw a lot of interest as well.

However, Brook has to win his next fight against Rafal Jackiewicz before Hatton can start going after him as a potential opponent in the future. A good showing against Brook could get Hatton the fight he craves against Khan.