• Welterweight

Khan confirms rise to welterweight

Amir Khan will travel to Atlantic City to watch brother Haroon Khan fight on Saturday © PA Photos

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Amir Khan has confirmed that he will rise to welterweight for his next fight, which he hopes will be for a world title when he returns to the ring in December.

Khan was recently dropped from No. 2 position in the WBC welterweight rankings, despite having never fought at 147lbs, when the organisation amended the list and removed the Bolton fighter from its top 15 at the level.

The 26-year-old was instead named No. 1 in the light-welterweight rankings, behind WBC titlist Danny Garcia and mandatory challenger Lucas Matthysse.

However, following his defeat of Julio Diaz on April 27 - which was fought at a 143lb catchweight - Khan revealed it was highly unlikely he would fight at light-welterweight level again, citing recent struggles to drop down and make the 140lb weight.

Khan has since declared his desire to move to welterweight in a bid to target undefeated star Floyd Mayweather Jr, and has confirmed he will return to the ring in the winter.

"I'm going to have a nice little break now with Ramadan coming up, but once I've done all that I'm looking at December 7," Khan told The Bolton News. "It'll be a step up to 147lbs and, hopefully, it'll be for a world title."

The former WBA champion will make the trip to Atlantic City to watch younger brother Haroon Khan, who faces Vicente Medellin on Saturday in his second professional fight, his first on American soil.

"It's his second pro fight and I'm really looking forward to it," Khan said. "It's his first in America, so that's a big step for him.

"It's all a learning curve for him at the moment. He's been training with Oliver (Harrison) and really looking strong. He's listening and learning all the time.

"You pick out things in his first fight that he'd probably change but it was exactly the same for me - you just keep working hard and he'll be fine."

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