By Mark Vester

According to the Machester Evening News, a welterweight bout is being lined up between WBA-interim welterweight champion Souleymane M’baye (39-3, 21KOs), and the recenly defeated Matthew Hatton (41-5, 16KOs). Matthew's older brother, Ricky Hatton, is trying to pressure Golden Boy Promotions into finalizing the fight for his brother. Ricky feels it's a just reward after Matthew gave up a lot of weight and size to challenge WBC Saul Alvarez in March. If Hatton gets past M’baye, he would face full champion Viacheslav Senchenko before the end of the year.

Hatton's trainer Bob Shannon said: “We’re waiting for a phone call. I think he would win a world title at welterweight. He has come out of his last fight really well. He was giving so much weight away but he’s getting better all the time. We went there to win and didn’t give up hope all the way through. He stood his ground even though he was well behind. The kid was just too strong. But people realize Matthew has improved so much. How he took those shots I don’t know. He is definitely going to be fighting for the world title this year. Golden Boy want him back over there.”

Tags: Matthew Hatton , Hatton-M’baye