By Keith Idec

Whoever he fights next, Amir Khan will be anxious about testing his right hand in his first fight following surgery to reconstruct it.

Khan, long bothered by pain in his right hand, underwent an extensive procedure in September. The two-hour surgery involved inserting “six or seven screws” in Khan’s hand and taking bone from his hip and grafting it onto his hand.

The former IBF/WBA super lightweight champion has been using his right hand during training sessions at trainer Virgil Hunter’s gym in Oakland, California. England’s Khan understands, though, that he won’t be able to truly assess how much better his surgically repaired hand feels until he lands hard punches during a fight, when he’ll wear gloves with less padding.

“On the bag, it feels OK because the bags are padded, and also the gloves are quite big,” Khan told BoxingScene.com during a recent interview. “But when you go in the ring, the gloves are gonna be smaller [eight ounces for welterweights and below] and when I hit someone with a right hand, there’s not gonna be much padding to protect the hand. So it is gonna be a little bit tough, but I’m sure once the adrenaline kicks in I’ll be fine.”

After fighting for many years when the 2004 Olympic silver medalist estimates the pain prevented him from using more than “30 or 40 percent” of his power in his right hand, Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) is relieved to have addressed the issue.

“Six or seven screws got put in the hand,” Khan explained. “And I got like a bone graft from my hip to put in my hand, and they fused it all. So that’s one pain that I used to have for a long, long time. That’s no longer there now, so I can’t wait to get back in the ring and get a feel of it.

“But yeah, I am in training camp. We started training camp early because I went to Canada to get focused and we set a date, which I’m looking at the end of April or early May. And I just want to get back into a groove again.”

Khan remains open to fighting Manny Pacquiao, though it seems unlikely that their fight will come together now that supposed investors in the United Arab Emirates have failed to deliver a reported $38 million guarantee to bring their fight to that country. That development probably will lead Khan to fight a lower-profile opponent later this spring.

The 30-year-old Khan hasn’t boxed since Canelo Alvarez knocked him out in the sixth round May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He took advantage of the long break he needed following that brutal knockout defeat to have his hand repaired.

“The hand’s feeling really well,” Khan said. “It’s been a long time since I punched, I guess, since the operation. I’m using it proper now. I’m hitting the bag, I’m using the speed ball and everything else with it. It was something that was a problem for me for a long, long time. I’m glad I got it fixed.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.