Khan to fight in April; thinks he’ll be fighting for title

By ESB - 12/21/2012 - Comments

By Michael Collins: Amir Khan says he’ll be fighting in April in a title fight against one of the world champions at 140. Which champion is still unknown, but he thinks he’s going to be facing one them and he plans on then taking on WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia after that with the belt that he wins in his April bout.

Khan said to Sky “In April, I’m looking at being in a fight in the 140 pound division for a world title, and then unifying it with the Garcia fight, if he gets through his fight with Zab Judah.”

So Khan is getting a title shot straightaway in his next fight? Golden Boy Promotions must be more powerful than I originally thought because I don’t see how Khan can get a fight with one of the 140 pound world champions in April because most of them will be coming off of recent fights. Khan isn’t going to get a fight against WBO champ Juan Manuel Marquez, and he’s the only one that doesn’t have a fight scheduled right now.

IBF champ Lamont Peterson will be fighting Kendall Holt in early 2013, and he won’t be available to fight Khan in April. WBC interim champ Lucas Matthysse is fighting on January 26th against Henry Lundy, so Khan can’t be talking about him. That’s not enough time for Matthysse to get back in the ring two months later unless Matthysse wants to rush it.

Josesito Lopez has been mentioned as a possible opponent for Khan for April, but Khan said to Sky Sports “Nothing has been finalized.” It doesn’t seem like he’s too eager for that fight. Khan wants the title shot. A unification bout would give Khan better bargaining power in a fight with Garcia then it would be if he went into the fight as just a mere challenger.

The light welterweight division is really watered down right now with the four sanctioning bodies and it’s highly likely that if Khan wants to pick up a title at some point he’s going to be able to. However, I don’t see it being realistic that he’s going to be fighting for a title in April unless the WBO strips WBO 140 pound champion Juan Manuel Marquez, and then Khan fights for the vacant title against Ruslan Provodnikov.