ESPN's Dan Rafael announced on Twitter that Oscar De La Hoya has confirmed to him that Amir Khan will fight Devon Alexander on December 13 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Showtime will broadcast the fight as the main event of a triple-header which will also include Keith Thurman vs TBA and Demetrius Andrade vs Jermell Charlo.
Also, @OscarDeLaHoya says 12/13 @SHOsports good to go: @AmirKingKhan vs @TheRealDevonA. Thurman-TBA & Andrade-Charlo. Good show. #boxing
— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) October 20, 2014
Khan (29-3, 19 KOs) and Alexander (26-2, 14 KOs) were reportedly in negotiations to fight on December 7, 2013 before Khan pulled out in a move viewed by many as an effort to avoid jeopardizing a potential show down between Khan and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Instead, Marcos Maidana got the call, and Khan fought on the May 3, 2014 undercard of Mayweather-Maidana I, knocking Luis Collazo down three times en route to winning a unanimous decision. Alexander did fight on December 7 and ended up losing the IBF welterweight belt to Shaun Porter via unanimous decision. Alexander bounced back in June by winning a unanimous decision over Jesus Soto Karass.
WBO junior middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade (21-0, 14 KOs) asked and received permission from the WBO to be named the mandatory challenger to Matt Korobov for the WBO middleweight belt before doing an about-face and staying at junior middleweight. Andrade will be defending his junior middleweight title for the second time. Charlo (24-0, 11 KOs) is undefeated, and has beaten the likes of Demetrius Hopkins and Gabriel Rosado.
Thurman (23-0, 21 KOs) is a young, exciting fighter who is looking for fights against the top welterweights. He was mentioned as a possible December opponent for IBF welterweight titlist Kell Brook, though the fact that there's no mention of any opponent yet, coupled with the bout being part of a triple-header, hints that this will be more in the range of a stay busy fight for Thurman.
The Showtime broadcast will go head to head against the HBO Boxing's offering that night- Timothy Bradley vs. Diego Chaves.
What do you think of the matchups? Which card will you tune into?