Ricky Hatton: My Amir Khan vs Kell Brook prediction and why it will be worth the wait

In his latest column, the British boxing legend looks ahead to the long-awaited Khan vs Brook showdown with plenty of Manchester talent looking to impress on the big stage.

Over the years I must admit I fancied Amir Khan to get the better of Kell Brook. Looking at the footage of him in training, even before the fight was announced, he looked to still have plenty of that speed, even if he isn’t quite as quick as he was a few years ago.

It would have been fair to say he might be a bit too quick for Kell. But Kell himself looks in absolute fantastic condition. I’ve changed my mind a little bit and I’m sure I will again before the opening bell on Saturday but I think Kell has looked a little bit fitter, a little bit sharper based on the footage we have seen.

It is such a 50-50 fight, but Kell is looking pretty quick himself and we know he has got the punching power. He is certainly capable of knocking Amir out. At the moment, I’m drifting ever so slightly to Brook.

There has been a lot of waiting for this but honestly, I think it will be an even better fight because of it. As you get older, you tend to slow down a bit and your stamina suffers a bit more. And if you’re not as quick and your stamina is not like it was, you are going to go toe-to-toe that little bit sooner in a fight.

It’s one of the reasons why we love Amir, but he does have a habit of getting drawn in. And if he gets drawn in on Saturday, the fight switches in Brook’s favour. If he avoids that and sticks to his boxing, I think you have got to go with Amir.

I think with Khan, he is more likely to get drawn in if he has lost that bit of quickness. But we can’t forget about the fact that these two really don’t like each other. None of this has been for the