British boxing icon Ricky Hatton has delivered a blistering assessment of Amir Khan's career choices, branding the Olympian's approach to the sport in his later years as a significant 'slap in the face' to the UK boxing scene.
Hatton's criticism centres on Khan's apparent preference for lucrative international paydays in locations like Saudi Arabia and the United States, while seemingly overlooking major domestic clashes that British fans were desperate to see.
A Missed Legacy of Domestic Showdowns
The 'Hitman' expressed profound disappointment that fight fans were denied a potential blockbuster all-British bout between Khan and Hull's Olympic gold medallist, Luke Campbell. Hatton believes this fight had all the ingredients to captivate the British public but was never seriously pursued.
'That was a fight that was there to be made. Luke was a fellow Olympian, it was a great style match-up, and it would have been a huge event over here,' Hatton lamented, highlighting a missed opportunity for both fighters' legacies.
The Perceived Snub to British Promoters
Beyond specific fights, Hatton suggested a deeper issue, implying that Khan and his team showed a lack of respect towards powerful UK promotional outfits like Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing.
'There's a feeling that he didn't give our promoters or our fighters the time of day towards the end,' Hatton stated. 'To bypass the biggest promoters in your own country and only look abroad... it feels disrespectful to the very industry that helped build you.'
This stance, Hatton argues, deprived Khan of a potentially more celebrated finale to his career on home soil, surrounded by the fans who supported him from his amateur days in Bolton to becoming a world champion.
A Question of Respect and Recognition
While acknowledging Khan's incredible achievements and talent, Hatton's comments underscore a tension between global ambition and national loyalty in sport. His critique paints a picture of a fighter who outgrew his domestic roots, a move that has not gone unnoticed by his peers and pillars of the British boxing community.
The boxing world is now left to wonder what could have been if Khan had chosen to cement his status at home with a few more legacy-defining fights in front of a British audience.
