Juan Manuel Marquez wants to fight Ricky Hatton at 140

Coming off of a blowout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez isn't ready to stop thinking big. Marquez now says that he "would like to get the opportunity at junior welterweight to fight Ricky Hatton," which is a fight that's been kicked around for a while now. There was a rumor that Hatton would want to fight Marquez were Marquez to beat Mayweather.

A pessimist would say that this is kind of like the ultimate consolation prize fight. Marquez was blown out by Mayweather, while in May, Ricky Hatton lasted less than two rounds against Manny Pacquiao. Those have been 2009's biggest fights to this point, and neither of them were in the least bit competitive.

140 would be two pounds less than Marquez weighed in for the Mayweather fight, but still maybe just a little too heavy. Evening that out is the chance that Ricky Hatton simply doesn't take a punch too well anymore. Pacquiao hurt him with just about everything major that he threw. It goes back to Hatton's TKO loss to Mayweather, where people immediately began to wonder if he'd ever be the same.

Since then, he's beaten Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi, two limited fighters without a ton of power, and then was ripped apart by Pacquiao. Hatton has always been a strong bully fighter at 140, and even if he's not the guy he used to be, Marquez would likely have some trouble if Hatton could make it physical.

Marquez, while a better fighter, has been weaker even at 135 than he was at 126 and 130, but he maintained his power up to 135 pounds, too, if not perhaps even gotten stronger there. At 140? I don't know. The two fighters' battles with Mayweather don't tell us a lot that we didn't know going in: Ricky Hatton is no welterweight, and neither is Juan Manuel Marquez. That comparison is useless, really.

I don't even think you can compare much about their Pacquiao fights. Marquez fought Manny at 126 and 130, and Ricky fought him at 140. And styles make fights and all this. Freddie Roach believed Hatton was tailor-made for Manny, and he was right. Marquez has fared better than anyone has since the first Erik Morales fight against Pacquiao.

A lot of people are probably going to wonder what the point of this fight is. That's easy: Money. If they can figure out a way to make some, they'll make it. It's probably the biggest possible fight for Marquez, and I really don't see what Hatton could do that would make him more than this one, either. It wouldn't be a mega fight or anything, simply a good HBO World Championship Boxing main event, hopefully paired with something that features some fighters on the rise.

You could count me in so long as nobody tries to sell Hatton-Marquez on pay-per-view.