by James Slater – There is no limit to Amir Khan’s ambition, despite – or perhaps because of – what happened to him against puncher Bredis Prescott a fight-but-one ago. As we know, Khan will take a potentially career-ending fight next time out, when he faces the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera in March. But the 22-year-old’s ambitions do not end there. Feeling he will one day soon make the move up to light-welterweight, Khan says in an interview with The Sunday Mirror, that he would love an all-British showdown with superstar Ricky Hatton.
It’s almost as if Khan has even more drive to make it big, thus proving his critics wrong, after what happened to him in 54 seconds back in September of last year. A fight with Hatton, though nothing more than a vague dream of an idea at present, would be an absolutely huge event in the UK. First things first, though, and Khan must get past the Mexican legend who dominated in three different weight classes. Khan’s new trainer Freddie Roach says his charge will be able to beat “The Baby Faced Assassin,” but he also says Amir will be unable to make the lightweight limit of 135-pounds for too much longer.
“Amir is a big 135 pound boxer and I will be monitoring his growth over the next few months,” Roach said. “I think he will ed up at 140 and then it will be interesting.”
Khan pretty much agrees that light-welterweight will be the division he will be occupying soon, and as far as a super showdown with Ricky Hatton goes, Khan says he’d relish the match.
“I grew up watching Ricky but now I have my own legend to beat in Barrera,” Khan said. “If I ever get to light-welterweight a fight with Ricky would be great.”
For his part, Hatton has said he’d be interested in a fight with Khan, but that he’d like to be the promoter of the event – promoting being Ricky’s latest thing.
A lot would have to happen for a Hatton-Khan fight to actually take place, but one or two prominent British boxing writers have put forth the notion that if Hatton were to lose to Manny Pacquiao (the fight everyone wants to see still being finalised as we speak) and if Khan beat Barrera, the match-up would make a lot of sense. After all, would Hatton have too many other options in which to make the kind of money the British mega-fight would net him?