AMIR Khan believes Ricky Hatton would be regarded as a ‘great champion’ should he retire – but refused to rule out a possible fight against the Hitman if he were to carry on.

Hatton’s second round defeat to Khan’s stablemate Manny Pacquiao has prompted calls for him to quit the sport with Joe Calzaghe the latest to venture such an opinion.

However, Khan – who fights for the WBA light-welterweight title against Andreas Kotelnik on June 27 – said the Hitman’s decision should be respected, whatever he decides to do.

"I think Ricky should chill out for a little while, think about what he is going to do," 22-year-old Khan explained to www.frankwarren.tv

"He has done a lot for the sport and he will be seen as a great champion in Great Britain regardless of what happened against Pacquiao. He’ll have to listen to what his heart tells him, but if he wants to stay in the sport I think he can come back and have a couple more fights. It depends on how he feels mentally.  Manny had a very, very good night, so I think that Ricky can come back and win a world title. He’s a credit to the sport and a credit to Great Britain and even if he hung up his gloves right now he would still be seen as a great champion."

With Calzaghe having retired and Hatton undecided, any fight against Khan could represent a possible changing of the guard.

However, with his mind presently on the Kotelnik contest, Khan admitted he would be happy to leave the matchmaking to promoter Frank Warren.

Khan added: "It would be a brilliant fight for the British fans. I leave picking the fights to my promoter. I have got got enough on my hands with training for my fights. I’ll leave it to the promoters, if it comes off it comes off, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t, but there are other huge fights out there for me."