Amir Khan's Next Fight: July 7, Anaheim Possible, Erik Morales Added to Talks

Steve Kim of Max Boxing reports that Amir Khan's next fight is pretty well set for July 7, and could wind up in Anaheim's Honda Center. Danny Garcia seems to remain the leading candidate to face Khan, but Erik Morales has also expressed interest in the fight.

Garcia beat Morales on March 24, but that might actually make Morales the better choice, since he doesn't have the WBC title and the sanctioning body stuff to get around, which Garcia does. Ajose Olusegun's team sounds reluctant to again step aside and let their guaranteed title shot be pushed back. Kim notes that the WBC does allow exceptions for unification fights, so if Khan gets either his WBA or IBF title back (or both), the fight could become a reality.

Khan (26-2, 18 KO) was set to rematch Lamont Peterson on May 19, but Peterson failed a pre-fight VADA drug test in March, which wasn't fully known until May 7. The fight was then canceled, leaving Khan to move to a new date, while Peterson tries to sort out the entire mess.

Khan told Jim Lampley on The Fight Game this past Saturday that he'd like to take one more fight at 140 pounds before moving up to 147, where the ultimate goal is to face Floyd Mayweather. Morales actually failed to make the 140-pound limit for his fight with Garcia, so it's questionable whether or not he'd fight Khan at 140 or perhaps a catchweight a few pounds heavier, if that were to come about.

Morales is also wanted by Top Rank for a July 14 fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, and Kim reports also that Todd duBoef reached out to Richard Schaefer about making that a reality. Morales still has three fights left on his Golden Boy deal, but to me a fight with Marquez, while perhaps more novelty than anything at this point, is really the best option for the Mexican legend. A fight with Khan didn't sound good a year ago and doesn't sound good now. It sounds too much like Khan's mismatch with Marco Antonio Barrera in 2009.

Whatever comes of the Khan fight, an announcement should come soon, since there's less than two months until the date. Personally, and with apologies to poor Ajose, I do hope it's Garcia. That's a fight where I favor Khan, but it's certainly not a gimme, and would be a big chance for Garcia to prove he's truly for real in the division.