Nowadays, Ricky Hatton is sounding very much like blabber-mouth Floyd Mayweather.

The British fighter told The National, the English-language newspaper based in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, over the weekend that Pacquiao “could be on what was Floyd is accusing him of, or it could be that he is just a great fighter who has improved.”

Hatton, who was flattened in less than two rounds by Pacquiao in their much-ballyhooed May 2009 slugfest, bared that he could have demanded that Pacquiao undergo random blood-testing but opted not to.

“I could have had those rules, but I wasn’t bothered. Maybe in hindsight, I should have done,” said Hatton, who also lost by tenth-round stoppage to Mayweather a couple of years ago.

“I must admit, I fancied my chances against Manny. A few years ago he was getting knocked down by little men like (Juan Manuel) Marquez, then all of a sudden he is knocking out Oscar de la Hoya, myself and (Miguel) Cotto, who are powerhouses in comparison.”

Hatton said “we will never know” if Pacquiao is indeed clean or not.

Pacquiao and Mayweather are being fancied to face each other on November 13 in Las Vegas in a fight expected to break not only box-office but pay-per-view records as well.

Mayweather is demanding that Pacquiao and himself be subjected to random blood and urine testing by the USADA to “level the playing field.”