An all-British bout between Amir Khan and IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook could potentially spark a domestic rivalry as big as Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank's two decades ago.
Khan has so far been reticent towards fighting Brook as he retains a hope of stepping into a ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
However, former two-weight world champion does not think facing Brook would be beneath the Bolton boxer, instead suggesting it could prove the making of both men.
Hatton said: "Amir's got as good a chance as anyone (to face Mayweather). When you look at the names left out there for Mayweather to fight, he's already beaten Saul Alvarez, and Miguel Cotto and Gennady Golovkin are too big at middleweight, so among fighters around his weight I can only think of Khan or Danny Garcia.
"If Amir doesn't get Mayweather then I think he should go with the Kell Brook fight. Benn and Eubank made themselves with a domestic rivalry; Carl Froch and George Groves had a great rivalry. Khan and Kell Brook could have a trilogy of fights. If you can get 80,000 into Wembley for Froch and Groves, you could definitely get 80,000-plus for Khan and Brook so that's the one I'd be heading for if Mayweather doesn't come off."
While Khan has been involved in the bigger fights so far in his career, facing a number of former world champions including Marc Antonio Barrera, Paulie Malignaggi and Marcos Maidana, Kell Brook is the man currently in possession of a world title and an unbeaten record.
Hatton thinks that if the two should meet, it would be too close to call.
"I think it's a 50-50 fight and I keep changing my mind," he said. "I could make an argument for both of them. When Amir Khan boxed against Devon Alexander and (Luis) Collazo I thought he looked a million dollars, but then last time out he showed his vulnerabilities. I think Amir's had a couple of times he's been hit on the chin, but lately he's looked a lot more solid.
"Kell Brook fought against Frankie Gavin and looked really good in doing it, but Amir Khan will say, 'that's a level down from where I've been fighting'. He might have a point in that, but Brook went over to the US and won the world title against (Shawn) Porter, so I really wouldn't like to say."