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Floyd fight will definitely be within nine months - Khan

Amir Khan celebrates his fifth round knockout of Zab Judah © Getty Images

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Amir Khan is confident a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jnr will be arranged for within the next "six to nine months".

The WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion has confirmed he is "99 per cent certain" to fight Lamont Peterson on December 10, and will target another warm-up fight to get accustomed to the welterweight division before taking on Mayweather in what could be one of the richest fights in boxing history.

Khan expects that fight to happen soon - and believes he can beat the currently undefeated American.

"Listen, I'm ready to fight [Mayweather]," Khan said, as quoted by The Guardian. "I can see a lot of things in my armoury that would beat Floyd - he will take a lot of shots and he will get beat. Floyd Mayweather is beatable - I think definitely he's beatable.

"The fight will happen definitely - it'll happen within the next nine months, six to nine months."

The Bolton-born fighter admits the finances will prevent the contest from taking place on his home turf, despite Mayweather's previous assertions that he would love to fight at Wembley.

"Because of the money [involved] it could never be here [the UK], there's too much money, so much money in America," Khan said. "America is 50 times bigger than England so imagine how much popularity we'll get fighting over there."

Mayweather courted controversy with the manner of his latest victory, catching Victor Ortiz with two punches while the young fighter was clearly still looking at the referee Joe Cortez - who had just broken the pair up after Ortiz appeared to throw a headbutt. Khan believes what Mayweather did was within boxing ethics - and says he probably would have done the same.

"It was a good performance because you have to remember with the adrenaline pumping through your body after being head-butted as well is going to kind of piss you off," Khan said. "What Mayweather did was just come back with a shot as soon as the referee said box on

"He hit Ortiz regardless if he was looking at him or not. Why was he looking at the referee? It's a rule in boxing, you never take your eye off your opponent and that's what Victor Ortiz did. Another rule is to defend yourself at all times, which is mentioned to fighters before they get in the ring and just before the bell goes.

"So it's one of those things. He caught Victor so clean even when he got caught with the first left hook, Victor should have put his hands up at least or maybe held him, whereas he looked at the referee straightaway.

"If that had happened to me I would have thought it is my own fault. Victor is probably thinking that it's his own fault. It's not Floyd's fault."

As for when he gets his shot against 'Money', Khan reckons it could come down to a case of who is sharper technically on the night.

"The two styles? I've got a slick style, fast hands, he's also got good hands, we've both got power, I think it'll be more of a technical game, thinking about it: who lands the right shots at the right time," he noted.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.