Amir Khan believes Ricky Hatton can take a leaf out of his book and bounce back from defeat in style.

Khan is looking to cap a tremendous year on December 5 when he puts his WBA light-welterweight title on the line against New York-based Ukrainian Dmitriy Salita in Newcastle and admits a revitalised 'hitman' could be a future opponent.

It will be Khan's first defence of the belt he won from Andreas Kotelnik in July, a victory which completed a remarkable turnaround for the Bolton fighter after his first-round knockout against Breidis Prescott in September 2008.

Hatton, who was widely expected to retire after he suffered a second-round knockout against Manny Pacquiao in May, created a stir last week when his promotional team hinted that he was ready to fight Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez next year.

And Khan thinks his own exploits over the last 12 months can inspire the 31-year-old to bring back the glory days.

"I don't blame him (Hatton) because after a defeat like that you want to come back and prove to his fans how good you are," Khan said.

"We all rate Ricky Hatton, he is a great fighter. Perhaps he took that extra step fighting Manny Pacquiao.

"That's boxing - one punch can win a fight. But what happened to me against Prescott didn't make Prescott a better fighter than me.

"It was a little mistake I made and perhaps he feels like he made that mistake and he wants to correct it by coming back and showing he's not finished.

"I think he should come back and not walk out on his career with a defeat. It is going to be hard mentally as you're only as good as your last fight and that will be running through his mind.

"But I'm sure he can learn from what I went through, getting the defeat and then within a few fights coming back and being the world champion. I'm sure he can do the same.

"I have a lot of respect for him in that way he is not ducking anything and hopefully if he takes this guy out he'll be in with a chance for another big fight."

Khan refused to rule out the possibility of fighting either Hatton or pound-for-pound king Pacquiao, but emphasised that he would never take on any bout that would be a clear mis-match.

"I will leave it to the promoters, but it is a fight that could happen in the future with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, the likes of Ricky Hatton," Khan said.

"We are at the same weight. You have got Manny, Marquez, Mayweather, myself, Ricky Hatton it is an exciting weight. People want to see us fight each other and having two British fighters (facing each other) here, it would be a huge fight, an explosive fight.

"People always want to see that the young lion going to take the old lion out. It's all about timing, picking the right opponent, but we'll see what happens.

"The same with Manny Pacquiao the fight might happen, even though we are training partners.

"You never know in this sport. As an amateur we used to fight people from the same gym, you'd spar with each other and then fight each other in championships.

"But I am not going to fight anyone at their peak if I am not at mine; there would be no point and it could spoil my whole career."