By Mark Vester

In a follow-up to an earlier story, Amir Khan (15-0, 12KOs) has taken himself out of the bidding for a mandatory shot at British lightweight champ Jon Thaxton. The two fighters have been exchanging insults in the media for several weeks, but the fight is not going to happen for the moment. Instead Khan will focus on positioning himself for a major title shot at either WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight champion Juan Diaz (33-0, 17KOs) or WBO interim-lightweight champ Michael Katsidis (23-0, 20KOs).

The British Boxing Board of Control ordered Khan and Thaxton to come together for a fight no earlier than March 2 and no later than the end of April.

Promoter Frank Warren says Thaxton was making unrealistic monetary demands for the fight. According to reports in the UK, Warren made a career-high offer to Thaxton outside of the bidding process. Insiders have said the offer was a very substantial amount of money. Thaxton wanted more and Khan decided to take his business elsewhere.

The British Boxing Board's general secretary, Simon Block, said The Board was disappointed over the fight falling apart.

"The Board will be disappointed that Khan has decided not to put himself forward for the bidding process, and also that Thaxton appears to have turned down a career-best purse," Block said.

Khan will face Martin Kristjansen (19-1-3, 5KOs) for the vacant WBO Intercontinental lightweight title on Feb. 2 at the ExCel Arena in London. Both Khan and Warren hope a win will provide a decent jump in the WBO rankings. Warren would like to match Khan against Katsidis or Diaz by the end of the year, but appears to prefer Katsidis better.

"I like the fight with Katsidis, I would like that fight to happen some time this year," Warren said. "He is tough, he comes to fight, he can punch, but he also goes over as we saw when Graham Earl clipped him. It's a fight I like. Amir has achieved far more than I expected in such a short space of time, and I believe 2008 will be his year and he will challenge for a world title at some point in the next 12 months. If he wins this fight it moves him up the (WBO) rankings."

Khan has been studying tapes of Juan Diaz and his WBC counterpart David Diaz. He feels that by the end of this year, he will ready to challenge them all.

"I have seen them fight," Khan said. "They are good fighters. One day I might be fighting these guys. It's good to know about them, and I should be ready for them later this year. I want to beat everyone in the division."

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