Former world champion Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) is targeting a March return date, for his comeback to the welterweight division.
Khan has been out of the ring since May of 2016, when he moved up to a catch-weight of 155-pounds and was knocked out in the sixth round by then WBC middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
"I'm inspired, I'm motivated. I'm going to come in there and clean up the entire 147 division, it's time," Khan told Fighthype.com.
Khan underwent hand surgery in 2016, which kept him out of the ring for most of that year.
In 2017, he was in serious talks to fight Manny Pacquiao in April, but their negotiations fell apart after the investors were unable to come up with the money to stage their in UAE. Then some personal issues, and a reality show run on ITV, took up most of Khan's time for the remainder of the year.
Khan believes he can clean out the entire welterweight division - and appears confident in his ability to beat everyone, including WBC, WBA champion Keith Thurman, IBF champion Errol Spence, Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia. Both Peterson and Garcia holds wins over Khan at junior welterweight.
“Looking at the 147 division it’s there for the taking. You’ve got Keith Thurman which I’d love to have, you’ve got Spence, you’ve got Garcia rematch, you’ve got the Peterson rematch. Some big names there, so I know it’s there for the taking," Khan said.
“A lot of people comment that 'you lost to Canelo' but Canelo is a big, big guy and one of the best pound-for-pound guys. I was smaller against him, but a lot of people know I was beating him on the cards.
"At 147, I don’t think anyone can push me the way that Canelo did - because Canelo is a big guy [and] that’s why I was saying that the 147 division is definitely what suits me and is where I’m going to clean up the division and I am going to become world champion again. Mark my words."
