By Mark Vester

Former champion and boxing hall-of-famer Barry McGuigan says Amir Khan is taking a very big risk with his decision to invade the United States so early in his career. McGuigan questions whether this is the right time for Khan to make such a move. He said Hatton came along at the right time and brought an army of fans with him, and Calzaghe did not have the army of fans but he did have the experience. McGuigan says Khan is lacking in experience and does not have an army of fans who follow him around, and that will make his invasion of America even harder.

Khan defends his WBA junior welterweight title against Paulie Malignaggi on May 15 at New York's Madison Square Garden. 

"It is a great opportunity and also a huge challenge. Khan is fighting Paulie Malignaggi, a native New Yorker. Khan is the marquee name yet he is fighting in his opponent's back yard. Usually it is the other way around. This is the difficulty in which he finds himself having committed at an early stage in his career to an American promoter, Golden Boy," McGuigan wrote in The Mirror.

"Again, the issue is the timing. When Ricky Hatton bowled into Vegas he had already made his name. He took an amazing 20,000 fans with him. Joe Calzaghe did not attract the same support when he made his debut there."

McGuigan feels Khan needs some additional work to sharpen up his style and is still a developing fighter but he has the talent to become a star in America.

"I applaud the idea of Khan basing himself in the States at some point. But is this the right time? Despite being a world champion, Khan is a developing fighter. He has improved a lot since his defeat to Breidis Prescott, but there is still ground to cover," McGuigan said.

"In giving up home advantage, he has forfeited a degree of control he would have otherwise had and that can be important at this stage in his education. It can be done, of course. It was the route taken by Manny Pacquiao, who built his reputation in Las Vegas not the Philippines."

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