By Edward Chaykovsky

Welterweight Matthew Hatton (42-5) believes a win over unbeaten Kell Brook (26-0) on Saturday night will open the door for a battle with Amir Khan. The two domestic rivals will clash for the WBA Inter-Continental and IBF International welterweight titles at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield. Khan, who faces Lamont Peterson in a rematch on May 19th, is considering a move to 147 in the near future.

"[Khan] is eyeing a move up to the welterweight division, so a clash with the winner of this fight is natural. Amir is a fantastic fighter, he is somebody I respect a lot," Hatton told BBC Sport.

The younger brother of Ricky Hatton has become more confident after watching the one-sided beatings that junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez has handed out in the last year to his opponents.

"Even though I stepped up in weight and gave away a lot of size on the night of the fight - Alvarez was ten pounds heavier than me - looking at what he has done to his opposition before and after our contest fills me with confidence," Hatton said. "Alvarez did not hurt me - and I didn't really feel outclassed - I just couldn't cope with the size difference. I got a lot of respect from that fight but I still lost. That experience has made me even hungrier to succeed - and even more confident."

"I have come down to my natural weight and it has always been my ambition to become world champion at welterweight. I know beating Kell Brook will give me the opportunity to do that. I think Kell Brook is a talented fighter and he is being billed as the next superstar of British boxing," he said. "Whether he is that good, I am not too sure but we will soon find out.