Amir Khan v Ricky Hatton @ 140lb

hatton with ease!

 

Hatton all day.

 

Just cos Pac destroyed Hatton like he did....dont let that make you forget all the other foes Hatton has vanquished. Khan is a good fast boxer but I think he'd need to be able to stay out of trouble for all 12 rounds and I doubt he could do that yet.

 

....you never know this actually could be a big UK money fight if Khan wins the title in June!

 

I can't see Hatton dealing with Khan's speed.

 

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A few things to consider:

1) Being able to train with Roach and spar with the magnificence that is Pacquiao will have improved Khan immesurably.

2) Hatton's punch resistance is now questionable - there's every chance Khan punches hard enough to stop him. He's certainly fast enough to cause Hatton trouble while trying to get inside.

3) Khan's godawful punch resistance could improve a lot by going up to 140 and not draining himself quite as much.

Of course Hatton has fought at a far higher level, but Khan is on the way up, and it's hard to say how good Hatton still is amongst the rest of the alphabet holding crew.

 

2 different things here: Khan's speed, skill level and the corner should favor him over Ricky. Other thing is his chin, lack of one serious power and weak body at 140.

Khan is faster than Pacquiao, so he'd counter Hatton easier. Amir's energy level, stamina and output is there for 12 rounds. He's also bigger and has much longer hands than Ricky to do it from the outside using the jab like a madman.

On the other hand, he doesn't have the punching power to stop the Hitman coming in. Malignaggi had very decent handspeed, good overall defense and very good counterpunching skills, but Hatton is a very effective pressure fighter who never had to pay attention to his power, cut down the ring and broke Paulie down. Khan has more power than Malignaggi, but 1) he's doing damage with speed and combination punching, not with single punches, 2) he sacrificed a lot of power lately, as his style now is about pop out punches and get back into defensive position as quickly as he can. This was necessary to minimaze the chances of getting caught in the middle of a furious attack, all because of the chin issues.

Khan's letdown will alway be his chin. Hatton managed to land a few good shots vs. Pacquiao, who walked through them and punished Ricky much worse. Watch the fight again and ask: can Amir take those? I think he can't, he needs a different approach, pretty much like in the Barrera fight. Other question is whether moving up in weight and putting some muscle on the weak legs can make him take punishment better, as it usually does. He has a weak chin but good recovery, so if he can stay on his stronger feet, maybe he can take more.

Kotelnik is an excellent and quick counter-puncher, and if Khan can walk through him taking his punches that caused Witter problems, or can do 12 without getting seriously tagged, his chances will be much better vs. Ricky than we'd think at the moment. Kotelnik is a very tough test.



How the fight would look? It's not hard to predict: superfast Khan moving very well and landing all kinds of flashy combinations with getting back defensive quickly, giving Hatton a boxing lesson, but Ricky slowly starting to cut down the ring and looking for monster shots. What happens from that point I think only the fight can tell.

 

Hatton is a very, very average fighter, the biggest trick he and his team ever pulled was convincing the world that he was a great fighter, or even a very good one. I would go with china-chinned Khan in this one, it is a very bad style match up for Hatton (which is why the Hatton camp will NEVER allow this fight to happen, just like they didn't allow the Witter fight to happen).

 

pacs power shots were literally as fast as hattons jab.

 

He does have decent power, but as I've said, style change cost him a lot of power. Watch the Barrera fight, he puts less body weight behind punches, just popping out. PacMan could be just as fast if he'd do the same, but he sits on his punches more, sacrificing some speed for power. Khan, due to chin issues, is doing the opposite nowadays. With that said, he could stop Ricky with his endless combos, I just can't imagine doing it the same one-punch way Pac or Mayweather did. And that'd let Hatton walking through some punches to land his own on the inside.

 

well, it's surely the last big money fight left for Hatton, isn't it?

I'm not sure Hatton should take it if offered. He doesn't need it, and Khan's speed is on the same scale as Pac's. Plus, Roach has shown everybody he already has the template for beating Hatton.

It might be a good fight, but I don't want to see Ricky beaten again.