Emphatic Khan success in rare UK scrap can lead to Brook clash

By his own admission, Amir Khan realistically cannot afford to lose another boxing match, in the aftermath of consecutive world title defeats to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia within the last two years.

And his next bout gives him the opportunity to dispel the memory of those recent losses, as ‘King’ meets Mexican veteran Julio Diaz at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield.

1/12 for victory, the fight represents Khan’s first in the UK for two years, following the retention of his WBA light welterweight title over Paul McCloskey in Manchester back in 2011.

And in the hope of embarking upon a series of American superfights following this, his BoxNation debut, Khan has outlined his determination to turn in a sparkling display opposite Diaz.

“I want to make this a special fight for the fans, a really memorable performance”, the 26-year-old told the Daily Mail.

“I’d like to move up to the 147lb division, where there are superfights”.

For the second time, Khan has been prepared for this upcoming clash by trainer Virgil Hunter, whose services he enlisted in favour of Freddie Roach following his aforementioned recent defeats.

A knockout triumph at Carlos Molina’s expense resulted from their initial teaming, and Khan is hopeful of building on that success, and taking another step towards the pinnacle of the lightweight division.

Indeed, Khan plans to unify the lightweight belts by the year’s end, prior to the series of United States mega-fights he craves.

But there is a British competitor who could feasibly tempt Khan to agree to another UK date, in the form of Sheffield native Kell Brook.

Brook recently cancelled his International Boxing Federation welterweight world title scrap with Devon Alexander, citing a foot injury as the reason for his withdrawal.

And Khan’s proclamation that “Kell Brook is welcome to come to my fight and watch the difference between a good fighter, and a great fighter” is set to only enhance the simmering tension between the pair.

With a world title on the line, a Khan versus Brook clash on British soil would represent an ideal scenario for all involved.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.