By Edward Chaykovsky
Last week, former world champion Amir Khan (31-4, 19KOs) made it clear that he wasn't backing away from his mandatory crack at Danny Garcia (32-0, 18KOs), who holds the WBC welterweight title.
Khan was knocked out by Garcia in four rounds back in 2012. Khan was dominating the fight until he was caught by a huge counter hook in the third round and he never recovered.
Khan retained his mandatory position after moving up by eight pounds to challenge then WBC middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez at 155 in May. The British star started well and seemed to be ahead after five rounds, but a single big shot in the sixth put him down and out.
Garcia captured the vacant belt back in January with a twelve round unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero.
According to Khan, he underwent surgery to correct an issue with his right hand that was bothering him for a very long time. He says the right hand will be better than ever and much stronger for the rematch with Garcia.
World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman has assured that Khan will indeed get his crack at the belt. The sanctioning body is simply waiting for Khan to hand them the green light on when he's fully healed and capable of fighting.
"Unfortunately, Amir Khan has an injury in his hand that required surgery so he'll be out for the rest of the year. Khan is the mandatory for the division so we will wait until he's healed and ready to fight. Absolutely [Garcia will fight in the meantime]. He's a champion and can't wait for challengers to heal so Garcia will be active," Sulaiman told Sky Sports.
"I believe Garcia will be defending in October and then we'll see when Khan is ready for it."
