WBA world welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi has said that he was surprised by Ricky Hatton's choice of opponent for tomorrow night's comeback bout.
'The Hitman' returns to the ring for the first time in three years and takes on Vyacheslav Senchenko, whom the 32-year-old New Yorker defeated back in April.
Malignaggi, who lost to Hatton in 2008, does not believe that Ukrainian will have the confidence needed to take the fight to 'The Hitman' in front of his raucous Manchester Arena following.
"I'm surprised he picked a difficult opponent like Vyacheslav Senchenko after three years out of the ring," he wrote in a column for BBC Sport. "I think Ricky saw that I stopped Senchenko in April, combined with the fact he beat me four years ago, and thought: 'I must be able to handle this guy.'
"I'm wholly aware I'm not a big puncher and that would have been a big part of why Ricky took this fight. But while it's true I stopped Senchenko, it was only stopped on a closed eye.
"If Senchenko has the same mentality against Ricky as he had against me, there's no way he's going to be able to handle 20,000 Brits screaming against him. If he was uncomfortable in an atmosphere that was set up to be comfortable for him, how is he going to be comfortable in an atmosphere that is going to be the exact opposite?"
However, he also warned that Senchenko still represents a dangerous opponent, and was surprised when Hatton opted to take it for his comeback bout.
"There's a flip-side," he added. "Instead of freezing, he may say: "I lost my world title, I've got nothing to lose, I'm 35, nobody's expecting me to do anything, so I might as well just go out there and fight the way I know how."
"If he takes that attitude, he could pose Ricky some problems, make things interesting. To a boxer, confidence means a lot. But either way, I don't think Senchenko will win the fight."
Malignaggi defended his title for this first time against Pablo Cesar Cano last month.
Michael Penkman
