By Mark Vester
2004 Olympic silver medal Amir Khan has vowed to outbox, and beat former three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera on March 14 in a UK venue to be annoucned at a later date. Khan has one win in the books since being knocked out by Breidis Prescott in 54-seconds last September, but he is confident of beating the legendary veteran. Khan says that he took such a tough fight to shut the mouths of his critics.
"This fight is not a gamble; I'm going to learn so much from it. At this stage, it's brilliant for me," said Khan. "Barrera is tougher than any British fighter - he's in a different league - and I'm going to seize the opportunity with both hands. I want to shut my critics up, prove to them how good I am. I have a point to prove, and this is the time to do it. I'm confident and know I can win. Winning this fight would take me to the next level."
Barrera is the number-one ranked contender to WBO belt being held by Nate Campbell. If Khan pulls off a win, he might be in line for a title shot at the end of the year. Khan's promoter Frank Warren says that his fighter really wanted the challenge of a fight with Barrera.
"This is the right fight for Amir at this stage of his career, and we hope it will bring out the best in him," said Warren. "Talking about fighting Barrera put a twinkle in his eye, and we've delivered it. This puts him well and truly on the world stage.
"Sometimes there are fights and fighters that you should grab when you get the opportunity. I think this is one of those moments. Facing Barrera will be the making of Amir. I can't think during my time in boxing of anyone who has stepped up to fight a quality opponent like Amir is doing after just 20 fights. That tells you something about him."
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