Britain’s Amir Khan and undefeated American Danny Garcia meet in a light-welterweight title unification showdown on Saturday with each fighter seeking a victory to launch him to another level. Khan, 26-2 with 18 knockouts, will defend the World Boxing Association title he was given earlier this week while Garcia, 23-0 with 14 knockouts, defends his World Boxing Council crown. Khan lost the WBA and International Boxing Federation titles last December in a controversial split decision to Lamont Peterson in the American’s hometown of Washington, but protested the outcome over several issues.
A rematch was booked but Peterson came back positive in random doping tests and the fight was called off, with Garcia entering the picture and Khan coming into the fight after 16 weeks of training and with his WBA title returned. “It’s thrilling,” Khan said. “Having two world titles makes the fight even bigger. “We’re more than ready for this fight. That (extra training time) maybe is going to give us more experience and in a way help me a little bit more because I’ve spent more time in the gym.” For Garcia, Khan would be the biggest victim on his unblemished record and could signal a jump into the welterweight division and such stars as unbeaten Floyd Mayweather and Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao. “A win would be big,” Garcia said. “It would put me in a new category, superstar category, and I’m pretty sure that we’re going to get the job done.
“It makes me train harder, keeps me focused, keeps me motivated, but I don’t feel like it’s too soon. If you’re the world champion who are you supposed to fight? Are you supposed to fight bums and pad your record?
“If you’re the world champion you’re supposed to fight the best people in their prime and that’s what I want to do. I want to build my legacy.”
Khan is cautious about talk of future plans, having lost more time than he might have expected at light-welterweight, but a rise to welterweight and a potential date against Mayweather, could be in his future with a victory.
