By Edward Chaykovsky
Former champion Ricky Hatton is giving his countryman, Amir Khan, a better chance than Manny Pacquiao to defeat Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Pacquiao will collide with Mayweather this coming Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with the WBC/WBO/WBA welterweight titles at stake.
Hatton faced both boxers during his career. He was handed his first career loss against Mayweather, when the Manchester fighter moved up to 147-pounds and was stopped in the tenth round. Two years later he suffered a brutal two round knockout at the hands of Pacquiao.
Khan is not likely to get a shot at Mayweather any time soon. Ramadan has created a conflict for Khan to face Mayweather in September - pushing the match to 2016. Hatton doubts Mayweather will ever face Khan.
“I have always fancied Mayweather to [beat Pacquiao] and I’m sticking with him. The hardest thing about fighting Floyd is his defence. His anticipation is very good, his timing is very good, his whole defence really. He is not bad on the offence either. When I was able to get close to him, he gave as good as he got. He has been like that for all of his career. He has a defensive style, but he always finds a way to adapt. He is very hard. In many ways, he is a complete fighter," Hatton told the Daily Mirror.
"I think Floyd would run a mile from Amir Khan. Not from a fear factor. It’s just that styles make fights and the style Amir has would cause him problems. The person who will beat Floyd will be someone with fast hands and fast feet and I think Amir is certainly quick enough."
“At the end of the day, even though you are the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, you may be forced to fight Amir Khan because you have run out of opponents and I think Amir would give Floyd trouble. When I say that, some people laugh, but I believe the person who is fast enough to give Floyd problems is Amir. I really think he would have a good chance of beating him.”
