Khan sets his sights on super-fights as he prepares to move up division

Amir Khan plans to bid farewell to the light-welterweight division tonight before pursuing mega-fights and superstardom in 2012.

The Bolton fighter hopes to successfully defend his WBA and IBF titles against Lamont Peterson in Washington before leaving the ten-stone ranks as the division’s recognised No 1.

From there, 25-year-old Khan plans to move up to the 10st 7lbs welterweight division where riches and recognition await. Top of his list is a showdown with pound-for-pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather, but other high-profile names on his radar include Shane Mosley and Victor Ortiz.

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Khan believes the time is now right to leave the division after failing to secure further unification clashes with WBO champion Timothy Bradley and WBC holder Erik Morales.

“I want to unify the belts and become undisputed, unified light-welterweight champion,” he said. “I’ve tried but they just won’t take the fights. You can’t force them. At the end of the day I’d like to fight them and prove I’m the best. I think that’s the reason they’ve moved me to number one in the rankings, because they know that I’m the one who wants to fight but these guys don’t want to face me.

“Maybe they’re scared. I don’t know. There is unfinished business but I can’t wait around because I’ve got other ambitions in my career.”

Khan added: “I’ll probably move up to welterweight in my next fight because there’s nobody out there I can face at light-welter. There are big names in the welterweight division and I can work my way towards those big super-fights against the likes of Floyd Mayweather and also Shane Mosley, who is in that division and someone I could probably face. There are some real super-fights for me in that division that people will want to see.”

Khan (26-1, 18KO wins) claims the ball is already rolling as they work towards a contest with undefeated veteran Mayweather.

“We’ve offered the fight to Mayweather’s team and they are interested in the fight,” he said. “I think that fight could happen in the next six to nine months, maybe even sooner. It depends how we come through this fight against Peterson.

“When I fight Mayweather I’m not going to be fighting for a big payday because I can make that fighting anybody, really. I want to fight Mayweather because I want to beat him. I want to be the first to beat him and I think I’ve got the style to do that.

“I want to take away that pound-for-pound world title from him and be known as the best fighter in the world.

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“When the time is right, within the next six to nine months, we’ll jump on that and take the fight against him.”

Such talk will be music to Peterson’s ears as the 27-year-old local man looks to shake off his underdog tag and punish Khan for arguably over-looking him.

Khan’s speed is cited as his biggest asset and likeliest route to victory but all-rounder Peterson is unconcerned ahead of their meeting at Washington’s Convention Center.

“If I want to match his hand speed then I will,” said the American (29-1-1, 15KO wins).

“If I don’t, then there are other ways around it. If the fastest man always wins the fight then Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and fighters like that would have never lost. Roberto Duran wasn’t the fastest guy but he beat Leonard. That’s boxing.

“Speed is just one attribute. It means nothing to me.”

He added: “I’ll do whatever I have to do to win. That’s the thing about me.

“You’ve seen me box and you’ve seen me bang. When I get in there I’ll get a feel for it.”

Legendary veteran Bernard Hopkins believes Khan has the potential to spearhead the next generation of boxing superstars but says the British fighter needs to secure blockbuster bouts.

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“He’s part of the puzzle to take the sport forward,” said Hopkins about Khan. “To lead it the whole way and carry boxing on your back is another question. That is about becoming that Oscar De La Hoya figure, or Mohammed Ali, or Ray Leonard.

“To carry the elite boxing on your back like those names... he has the chance to do that but he has to do something outstanding against some outstanding opponents. It has to be opponents that we look at in the same way.”

Khan, though, will need to get Peterson out the way first.