By Mark Vester
WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan has confirmed BoxingScene.com's scoop about Paulie Malignaggi being the frontrunner to replace Juan Manuel Marquez on May 15. Khan hopes to fight Malignaggi in New York's Madison Square Garden. Khan told the Sportinglife paper that Malignaggi is not on his level.
"May 15 is the date that I have, the fight will be in America, and opponent - we are looking at Malignaggi," Khan said to Sportinglife. "We were looking at Marquez, who pulled out, so it's Malignaggi up to now and we want to hear what he thinks about the fight. Golden Boy have put the fight to his promoter Lou DiBella, so we will see where we go from here.
"When it does happen, I'm just going to go in there and do what I normally do and I really think Malignaggi has a style which is going to make me look good. He's not at my level. He has a few good wins in America, but it's another fight for me and I'll go there and do what I have to do."
Khan claims that he is not ducking the challenge of Marcos Maidana. He is confident of beating Maidana but doesn't think the big-punching interim champion is a big enough name for his debut fight in America.
"If I was going to fight someone in America I wanted to fight a big name as my debut, so if I fought Maidana, people would have said it's not the right way to come to America, it's not the right entrance. I would beat him, but I still wouldn't have the recognition," Khan said.
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