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by James Slater - Great trainer Freddie Roach, who handles pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan (among others) says that after "Pac-Man" KO's Ricky Hatton this coming Saturday in Las Vegas, "The Hitman" will go on to fight Khan in what would be a British super fight.
The notion of a Hatton-Khan showdown has been brought up before now, but some people in the know have said it will never happen. But Freddie, who works with both Manny and Amir at his famous Wild Card gym in Los Angeles, says the fight will happen within twelve months of his man from The Philippines dismantling and ultimately stopping Hatton in the eagerly anticipated rumble that finally arrives in less that five days time..
Speaking to The Telegraph, Roach said Khan is almost ready to take on a fighter as talented and formidable as the Manchester warrior.
"Hatton is close to the end of his career," Roach said. "If Manny does what I think he will do to Hatton, and if it all goes to plan, we will knock him out and bust him up. If that does happen, I would say Amir is close to a fight with Ricky, which is a huge fight in the U.K, a sell out. It's two fights away [For Khan]. We have been working on Amir's mental game, and he is getting stronger all the time."
Though it's way too early to get in any way excited about a Khan-Hatton get together - after all, what if Hatton wins against Pacquaio on Saturday? - the fight would make sense if Ricky were defeated for a second time. A "Farewell" fight to end all farewell fights, Hatton would have a great chance to go out with an extremely high profile win, and one that would play out on front of many many thousands of British fans. Still, Roach's talk is just that at present, talk.
Freddie spoke further of Hatton being close to the end, and what dangers there are for any fighter who sticks around in the sport too long, no matter how great they once were.
"Sugar Ray Leonard stayed around too long and had the **** kicked out of him," Roach explained. "I like Ricky, I like his family, I believe in hard work. But you can't have everything you want. I think he is close to the end. So is Manny, come to that. They can fight more if they want to. But I don't think they will go on for more than a year."
Hatton has thus far had precious little, if anything, to say about a possible clash with Khan - so utterly convinced is he that he will beat the Filipino southpaw at the week end.
The hype and build-up for this one has been such that fans can barely wait any longer for the first bell! Interestingly, Amir Khan is one of these fans, and he will be ringside in Vegas
The notion of a Hatton-Khan showdown has been brought up before now, but some people in the know have said it will never happen. But Freddie, who works with both Manny and Amir at his famous Wild Card gym in Los Angeles, says the fight will happen within twelve months of his man from The Philippines dismantling and ultimately stopping Hatton in the eagerly anticipated rumble that finally arrives in less that five days time..
Speaking to The Telegraph, Roach said Khan is almost ready to take on a fighter as talented and formidable as the Manchester warrior.
"Hatton is close to the end of his career," Roach said. "If Manny does what I think he will do to Hatton, and if it all goes to plan, we will knock him out and bust him up. If that does happen, I would say Amir is close to a fight with Ricky, which is a huge fight in the U.K, a sell out. It's two fights away [For Khan]. We have been working on Amir's mental game, and he is getting stronger all the time."
Though it's way too early to get in any way excited about a Khan-Hatton get together - after all, what if Hatton wins against Pacquaio on Saturday? - the fight would make sense if Ricky were defeated for a second time. A "Farewell" fight to end all farewell fights, Hatton would have a great chance to go out with an extremely high profile win, and one that would play out on front of many many thousands of British fans. Still, Roach's talk is just that at present, talk.
Freddie spoke further of Hatton being close to the end, and what dangers there are for any fighter who sticks around in the sport too long, no matter how great they once were.
"Sugar Ray Leonard stayed around too long and had the **** kicked out of him," Roach explained. "I like Ricky, I like his family, I believe in hard work. But you can't have everything you want. I think he is close to the end. So is Manny, come to that. They can fight more if they want to. But I don't think they will go on for more than a year."
Hatton has thus far had precious little, if anything, to say about a possible clash with Khan - so utterly convinced is he that he will beat the Filipino southpaw at the week end.
The hype and build-up for this one has been such that fans can barely wait any longer for the first bell! Interestingly, Amir Khan is one of these fans, and he will be ringside in Vegas
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