Belt could be Khan's springboard to Hatton

Published on Wednesday 15 July 2009 22:55

PROMOTER Frank Warren would be happy to pit Amir Khan against Ricky Hatton providing the youngster wins his maiden world-title challenge this weekend.

Khan, 22, bids to win his first world honours when he steps up to light-welterweight to face Ukrainian WBA champion Andreas Kotelnik at the MEN Arena on Saturday. While Khan and his trainer Freddie Roach have spoken at length about a showdown with former undisputed light-welterweight king Hatton, promoter Warren has kept his cards closer to his chest.

Warren believes Hatton should retire following an emphatic defeat by Manny Pacquiao earlier this year but admitted if the Mancunian does fight on, he would be open to a fight between the two.

Warren said: "Let's see if Amir gets the belt first. But it's a great fight. I think, personally, Ricky Hatton should retire, but if he wants to fight, then why not? It's a great fight."

Asked if he would be confident of Khan beating the 30-year-old, Warren added: "I think so, I think he is the man of his time but he's got to get through Kotelnik first. That's the most important thing."

Khan has vowed to be cautious against Kotelnik after being handed his only career defeat by Breidis Prescott last September when he was blown away inside a minute.

"Kotelnik is a very good boxer," said the 22-year-old. "He's very careful, his accuracy is good and so it's just going to be about picking the right shots against him and not making mistakes, because if you make mistakes he picks up on them. I feel very strong at light-welterweight. It's only 5lbs more than lightweight but I feel so strong and so quick, I think this is the best weight I've been for a long, long time. I've been sparring at this weight and things have been going really well."

Khan, who is based in Los Angeles with trainer Roach, added: "I've never trained so hard. With every fight I'm getting better and better and I'm going into a different weight category to fight for a world title. That has only made me train harder and motivate me more. Freddie and I are very confident for this fight. I think his style is made for mine and hopefully we're going to come out as the winners."

Despite being the champion going into the fight, Kotelnik is well aware that Khan is the star attraction. "Amir is a very famous boxer, not just in England but also over the world," he said. "If I win this fight it will open the road to further fights, especially in America."

The Ukrainian stopped short of hailing Khan as the toughest opponent he has faced. "I will only be able to answer this question after the fight," he said.