Amir Khan believes Ricky Hatton can emulate him and make a winning return after a bad defeat. Khan, who defends his WBA light-welterweight title against the Ukrainian Dmitriy Salita in Newcastle on 5 December, said a revitalised Hatton could be a future opponent.
Hatton was widely expected to retire after his second-round knockout by Manny Pacquiao in May, but last week his promotional team hinted that he was ready to fight Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez next year.
Khan said he could understand why the Mancunian wants to return to the ring: "I don't blame him [Hatton] because after a defeat like that you want to come back and prove to the fans how good you are. We all rate Ricky Hatton, he is a great fighter. Perhaps he took that extra step fighting Manny Pacquiao. That's boxing – one punch can win a fight."
For Khan, the Salita bout is the first since he won the belt by beating Andreas Kotelnik in July, a victory which completed a remarkable turnaround after his first-round knockout against Breidis Prescott in September 2008.
Reflecting on that defeat Khan said: "What happened to me against Prescott didn't make Prescott a better fighter than me. It was a little mistake I made and perhaps he [Hatton] feels like he made that mistake and he wants to correct it by coming back and showing he's not finished.
"I think he should come back and not walk out on his career with a defeat. It is going to be hard mentally as you're only as good as your last fight and that will be running through his mind. But I'm sure he can learn from what I went through, getting the defeat and then within a few fights coming back and being the world champion. I'm sure he can do the same."
Khan would not be drawn on the possibility of fighting either Hatton or Pacquiao, but said he would never take on any bout that would be a clear mismatch.
"I will leave it to the promoters, but it is a fight that could happen in the future with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, the likes of Ricky Hatton," he said.
"We are at the same weight. You have got Manny, Marquez, Mayweather, myself, Ricky Hatton – it is an exciting weight. People want to see us fight each other and having two British fighters [facing each other] here, it would be a huge fight, an explosive fight.
"People always want to see that, the young lion going to take the old lion out. It's all about timing, picking the right opponent, but we'll see what happens. The same with Manny Pacquiao, the fight might happen, even though we are training partners.
"You never know in this sport. As an amateur we used to fight people from the same gym, you'd spar with each other and then fight each other in championships. But I am not going to fight anyone at their peak if I am not at mine; there would be no point and it could spoil my whole career."
Source: guardian.co.uk
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