Amir Khan will fight welterweight champion Terence Crawford in an attempt to gain the WBO welterweight title on 20 April.
The venue of the fight is still unconfirmed. The bout will take place at either Las Vegas’ MGM Grand or New York’s Madison Square Garden. A British television broadcaster is also not yet confirmed.
Khan rejected terms to fight his rival Kell Brook in an attempt to gain a chance to be the WBO welterweight champion. Khan was last a world champion in 2012, and will be looking to reclaim the title.
Amir Khan will train with Virgil Hunter for the fight. Previously, Khan worked with Joe Goossen, under whom he gained two victories.
While talking to the media, Khan said,
“It’ll be nice to get back with Virgil. Joe was also a great trainer [but] I’ve had a great career with Virgil.
The only fight we lost together was against Canelo [Saúl Álvarez, the Mexican middleweight]; the bigger, stronger guy, but I was out-boxing him until he caught me. I’m going to have to be in the best shape ever to win this fight. It’s going to be a very, very hard fight.
Against Canelo that wasn’t the right weight for me; I wanted to challenge myself and bit off too much. This is my ideal weight. I’m going to go back to Virgil, who was a little sick for my last two fights. He knows it’s dangerous but that I can win this fight. I’m unbeaten in the 147lb division; I’ve had my best performances there, against Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander.”
Considered one of the world’s top three fighters, Terence Crawford unified all four light-welterweight world titles in 2017. The 31-year-old said;
“You could say this is my hardest fight. Amir Khan’s still dangerous, still fast, still got the experience, been a welterweight longer than me. But we’re not taking any shortcuts in this fight. My way to be able to adjust in the blink of an eye – fighting so many styles in my life; there’s never been a fighter I couldn’t figure out.”
