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New and improved: Ricky Hatton is bringing a whole new game plan to the table on Saturday.

Hatton, Mayweather Sr. mesh nicely

LAS VEGAS -- Boxing sure can make for strange bedfellows, can't it? Take, for example, the case of junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton and his new trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr.

It was just about a year ago when Hatton was about to challenge his new trainer's son, Floyd Mayweather Jr., for the welterweight title that Mayweather Sr., who is estranged from his son, referred to Hatton as a "human punching bag."

Now, they are nearly inseparable as Hatton prepares for his fight under Mayweather's tutelage when he defends the 140-pound world championship against Paulie Malignaggi -- who vacated a sanctioning organization belt to make the fight -- Saturday night (HBO, 10 ET) at the MGM Grand.

Opening the telecast, a pair of Austin, Texas, middleweights meet as big puncher James Kirkland (23-0, 20 KOs) steps up in class against third-season "Contender" participant Brian Vera (16-1, 10 KOs), who is coming off an upset knockout of heralded middleweight prospect Andy Lee.

Hatton will face Malignaggi in the same ring in which Mayweather Jr. knocked him out in the 10th round, sending him back to junior welterweight to rebound from a rough loss. In May, Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) did bounce back in front of more than 50,000 fans in his hometown of Manchester, England, outpointing Juan Lazcano while Malignaggi (25-1, 5 KOs) took a decision from Lovemore N'Dou on the undercard to set up the showdown between the No. 1 and No. 2 junior welterweights.

However, Hatton was not sharp against Lazcano. In fact, Hatton hadn't been sharp in several of his recent fights. Trainer Billy Graham took the fall as Hatton fired his longtime cornerman after the Lazcano fight.

"If you watched [HBO's] '24/7' [before the fight with Mayweather Jr.] you could see how bad Billy was struggling with his own injuries," Hatton said. "It's was a simple case that my training was suffering. There was no real method to the madness. Floyd has slowed me down a little, has me using my jab more and I've showed him I have this boxing ability. He's polished my technique."

Graham remains bitter about the breakup, yet for some reason he has flown here to be around the fight, almost in a perverse manner. No longer part of Hatton's team and no longer on speaking terms with his former charge, Graham instead spends his days and nights sitting in the same spot at the lounge near the MGM lobby, sometimes talking with British fans in town for the fight.

Meanwhile, Hatton couldn't be more pleased with Mayweather, whose defense-oriented training style couldn't be more different than the way Graham trained Hatton.

"We got used to each other so quickly," said Hatton, who has designs on next fighting the winner of the Dec. 6 Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight. "Me and Floyd took to each other like ducks to water. I have this boxing ability that nobody seems to believe I have. Floyd has brought it to the forefront. I've not changed my style, but Floyd has polished it and brought out things lurking in the background.

"He reminded me there are two Ricky Hattons. I have showed good boxing skills before against guys like Ben Tackie and Ray Oliveira. I have it in me, but I forgot it recently."

Mayweather's intention was not to change Hatton's aggressive style. He just wants Hatton to fight smarter. That means taking fewer punches, moving his head more and utilizing his jab.

"I never try to take nothing from Ricky in terms of his style," said Mayweather, who elected to train Hatton rather than remain De La Hoya's trainer. "He should be aggressive, but I want him to be smart. I don't want Ricky to get hit because he's aggressive. That's why you catch punches, slip punches and slide over from punches. You don't have to get beat up because you are aggressive. You can beat the man by making him miss and making him pay. Ricky has been doing that very well.

"It didn't take long. I thought it would be quite difficult, but it wasn't difficult at all. Ricky is a very good student."

Brash New Yorker Malignaggi, 27, isn't buying it. He said Hatton, 30, is not about to change after 11 years as a pro.

"They think he will be this defensive whiz," Malignaggi said. "I think they know he is what he is and he will fight the way he fights. They say everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth. Come Saturday night, he'll get punched in the mouth and then we will see about his plan.

"I don't know if he's going to become a defensive fighter. You can teach defensive wizardry, but you need the talent to go with it. You have to be born with that natural defensive radar. Ricky Hatton has no sense of anticipation of what's coming his way. You can teach him all you want, but he doesn't have those instincts."

Darchinyan-Arce?

Last year, one of the hottest fights possible was Vic Darchinyan vs. Jorge Arce, fighters with action styles and big mouths. But their promoters, Gary Shaw and Top Rank, respectively, which don't get along, postured until both guys eventually lost. Darchinyan was knocked out by Nonito Donaire and Cristian Mijares outboxed Arce with ease, killing the fight.

Now, both have revived themselves -- Darchinyan knocked out Mijares to unify three junior bantamweight titles Nov. 1 and Arce has won five in a row and claimed an interim belt -- and the fight is close to being made for Feb. 7 (Showtime) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., Shaw and Top Rank's Todd duBoef told ESPN.com.

DuBoef plans to meet Friday with Arce co-promoter Fernando Beltran to go over the details of the proposal.

The fighters are interested in facing each other.

Arce (51-4-1, 39 KOs), who had been pursuing junior featherweight champ Israel Vazquez, is now two divisions heavier and wants Darchinyan.

"Vazquez had his shot, but he waited too long to make a decision and quite frankly, I think he was scared of the matchup," Arce said. "I can only hope that Darchinyan won't run for the hills like Vazquez did. I really wanted the fight against Vazquez, but this is a business and right now a fight with Darchinyan makes more sense."

Said Darchinyan (31-1-1, 25 KOs): "If Arce thinks he has a snowball's chance in hell of beating me than he's a bigger sucker than those lollipops he chews on. Arce shouldn't be worrying about me running for the hills. He should be worrying about me running him out of boxing. The last real ring test he had was against Cristian Mijares in 2007 and we all know how that ended. It was a murderous unanimous decision victory for Mijares, scored 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111. And everyone saw what I did to Mijares on Nov. 1. Arce is going to be my human piñata."

Underdog Holyfield eyes history

The promotional push for Nikolai Valuev's heavyweight title defense against 46-year-old Evander Holyfield (42-9-2, 27 KOs) on Dec. 20 in Zurich kicked off this week with the fighters appearing together at a news conference.

"I want to make the most of the chance and become world heavyweight champion for the fifth time," said Holyfield, an improbable challenger because of his age and because he lost a lopsided decision to then-titleholder Sultan Ibragimov in his last fight 14 months ago. "I do not just want to win the title but also defend it afterwards. I am still in great shape,"

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Holyfield, who faces a vast size disadvantage against 7-foot, 320-pound Valuev (49-1, 34 KOs), is scheduled to undergo an extensive medical evaluation in Germany.

"I might not have fought in over a year but all those who think that I am not able of competing for the world title any more will be surprised," Holyfield said. "I know what to do inside the ring. I have been boxing for 38 years so I know how to make correct assessments."

Said Valuev: "He is a legend. Despite his age, I take him very seriously. It has always been my wish to fight against him -- I used to follow his bouts closely in the past."

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.