Former welterweight world champion Amir Khan will end a near two-year hiatus from the sport with a bout in Liverpool on April 21 against an unnamed opponent, he officially announced on Wednesday.

Khan, 31, whose most recent activity was spent on a reality TV programme in the jungle, made the announcement alongside Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn with whom he has signed a three-fight deal.

The 2004 Olympic lightweight silver medallist's last outing was back in May 2016 when he stepped up to middleweight to face Mexico's star pugilist Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and was knocked out in the sixth round.

Khan said his ambition is to taste what it is like to be world champion again having been the unified welterweight world champion - holding the WBA belt from 2009-12 and the IBF version in 2011.

Hearn said it was great to have Khan back fighting in England - his last fight on home turf was beating Julio Diaz in 2013 - and pledged to bring him top names as opponents.

At one point last year, Khan had agreed to a deal to fight former sparring partner, Manny Pacquiao, on an April date in UAE.

But a few short weeks later the contest fell apart, after the investors were unable to come up with the millions they had promised to fund the event.

When the contest fell out, Khan mentally fell apart and thought his career might be over.

"When that fight didn’t happen it put me on a really bad downer. I thought 'where am I going to go from here'. I really put all my eggs in one basket and thought ‘this is the fight I really want’. Then I had the hand injury, and I was waiting for the hand to get better," Khan told Sun Sport. "When Pacquiao went and I heard Kell Brook went up a weight I thought ‘where do I go from here’."

"It’s all about now, rebuilding my career, making the big fights happen, there are some big names out there. I want to fight for a world title within three fights. I really belong at world title level, getting into the ring in Liverpool is just going to get me back moving again, it will show me where I am, and how long I need for a world title fight.

"I want the big names. I don’t want the easy fights, but then again I want to see how I feel and how my body feels. I want to fight whoever is at the top, that’s the type of fighter I am."