By Shaun Brown
After unsuccessfully testing world title waters at a higher weight Amir Khan is adamant that his future lies at his more natural frame of 147lbs.
Although the 31-year-old weighed in at 150lbs for his last fight against Phil Lo Greco, his first in nearly two years since a heavy knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez, the former 140lbs world champion says he wants to win a world title at welterweight.
Khan (32-4, 20 KOs) returns on September 8, live on Sky Sports, against Canadian based Colombian Samuel Vargas (29-3-2, 14 KOs) at the Arena Birmingham.
“This is the fight that will show I am a 147 fighter,” Khan told Sky Sports.
“I want to win a world title again. There are titles after this one, there are other big fighters out there, but we are taking it one step at a time.”
Vargas represents Khan’s second fight, in 2018, under the Matchroom Boxing banner. A win against Vargas will likely/hopefully see Khan take a significant step up in class later in the year. And, of course, that leads us to the topic of the will they/wont they saga of Khan vs. Brook. And in July their promoter Eddie Hearn said: “After [their next fights], we’ll be looking to get that fight signed. It’s the biggest fight out there, but both have options. But they will kick themselves forever unless they get it over the line.”
Brook’s next fight was due to be against Brandon Cook on the Dillian Whyte-Joseph Parker undercard on July 28 but withdrew due to an ankle injury. There is no word on when the former IBF Welterweight champion, now campaigning at 154lbs, will return. Eddie Hearn was unavailable for comment when Boxing Scene tried to contact him about that matter.
“I want to fight at 147 because I am a welterweight fighter, and I’ve made that clear,” said Khan to Sky Sports, proving that the weight issue could well be a hefty stumbling block to a high-profile British fight that has reached its sell-by-date.
Twitter @sbrown2pt0
