By William Mackay: 33-year-old Ricky Hatton is said to be back in training and possibly making a comeback against WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi before the end of the year. Malignaggi has already said that he’d take the Hatton fight in a second if it’s offered to him, because he wants the chance to try and avenge his 11th round TKO defeat at the hands of Hatton from 2008.

No doubt the money that Malignaggi would get in a Hatton rematch also helps shape his desire to want to want to face him again.

Hatton really did a number on Malignaggi, and you would think that he’d still have a good chance of beating Malignaggi if they were to fight before the end of the year. The only question here is how much left does Hatton have after three years out of the ring? He was blown out by Manny Pacquiao in a 2nd round TKO defeat in 2009, and Hatton has not fought since then.

The time off is one thing, but perhaps more troublesome is how much blubber Hatton has piled on since then with his overeating and drinking. He’s obviously lost some weight recently judging by recent photos and video of him, but when you’ve put that kind of weight on and lived that kind of lifestyle for three long years, things aren’t going to be what they once were even if you work out hard. The stamina won’t be there and likely neither will the speed and timing.

Hatton’s power will probably come back, but if he can’t catch up to Malignaggi fairly early in this fight Hatton could be in for an embarrassing defeat. It would be a risky fight for him to take because he’d be going into the bout thinking he can whip Malignaggi like he did last time, but that version Hatton is long gone and will never come back. At best, Hatton might be lucky if he comes into the fight at 75 percent of what he once was. Will that be enough to beat Malignaggi? Maybe if he can get to him early. If not, Hatton will get his ears boxed off.