By Edward Chaykovsky
Former world champion Amir Khan has pushed back his ring return even further. Initially he was going to return in January, and then said it was more likely for March or April - but now it seems his comeback will take place next summer.
Khan moved up to 155-pounds for his last fight, back in May, when he challenged Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez for the WBC middleweight title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He started well, but Canelo's size eventually took over and he was knocked out cold in the sixth round.
The reason for his ring delay is the complicated surgical procedure that was recently done on his right hand - it involved grafting part of his hip bone onto his hand.
Khan seems to be leaning to a return in the UK for his next ring outing. He says there are five fights left for his career. He wants the next contest to be against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook or WBC champion Danny Garcia, who knocked Khan out in four rounds back in 2012 at junior welterweight.
Brook himself is rehabbing an fractured orbital bone injury suffered during last month's stoppage loss to Gennady Golovkin. Brook (36-1, 25KOs) is also not a lock to return to 147-pounds and owes a mandatory defense to Errol Spence if he does. Garcia (32-0, 18KOs) faces Samuel Vargas in a stay busy fight next month and then has a unification booked with WBA champion Keith Thurman next March. Khan is still the mandatory challenger to Garcia's title.
"I've got about five fights left. I'm going back down to welterweight," Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) said to Nick Parkinson. "I'll box again in the summer and I want to give the UK fans a fight -- it's been a while since I've boxed there, and they deserve one now.
"Hopefully, it will be Garcia or Brook. My right hand is getting better and I'm feeling really good that I've had the operation. I broke it in my second fight so had to get it fixed. I've got time on my hands, so had it done. Not throwing a proper right hand and holding back hasn't been good for my career. I've hesitated in getting the right hand out sometimes, and that's maybe why I've been caught by left hooks."
"If the [Brook] deal is right I will do it. I know what the fight can generate. I have agreed to take that fight before but financially I have to get what I need to get paid. It's the biggest fight left for both of us. The winner of me and Brook would go on to fight Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. I think Mayweather will come back for one more. I think he would want to fight again."
