By Edward Chaykovsky

Ricky Hatton, who faces Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007, was shocked with the pound-for-pound king's recent decision to face Marcos Maidana on May 3rd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Hatton felt his countryman Amir Khan, who Mayweather passed up, was a much better choice and had a far better shot at making the match competitive.

Hatton expects a repeat of Mayweather's fight with former junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Mayweather boxed his way to a lopsided twelve round decision win. The Manchester icon is predicting an more one-sided victory, because he considers Canelo to be a more accomplished fighter.

"I think it’s a shocking fight. I was so disappointed to hear that the clash with Khan had fallen through. And while I would never say Floyd is avoiding a test, perhaps he didn’t fancy Amir’s style. I’ve said for a while that Amir could cause him problems. I’ve had a few people come up to me and say ‘what are you saying?’ when I say Amir has the style to beat him. But I’m a firm believer that if he jabs and moves, swallows his pride doesn’t go toe-to-toe then he could do well. The last fighter Floyd looked ordinary against was Zab Judah, so maybe he just didn’t fancy Amir stylistically. He would still be expected to win, but stylewise it could be a nightmare for him," Hatton told The Manchester Evening News.

"Amir might be the only fighter out there who is as fast as him and even if Floyd did win, he might not come out of it looking very good. Instead he has chosen Maidana as his next opponent, but for me it’s just a repeat of the Saul Alvarez fight. Floyd won that comfortably despite giving away a weight advantage.

"I like Maidana. He’s a big puncher and he’s all action, but I don’t see that he has any of the qualities that could trouble Floyd. Style-wise it’s a mismatch. He’s just a smaller Alvarez with less boxing ability. I don’t see how he’s going to harm Floyd unless he lands one on the chin – and we all know how hard he is to hit. Maidana has a puncher’s chance and no more as far as I’m concerned."