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Amir Khan will return to the ring on December 1 or December 15, facing lightweight prospect Carlos Molina in a junior welterweight bout. The fight will take place in the States, and if it's on December 1, that would mean Khan-Molina would be on the Cotto-Trout bill at Madison Square Garden, live on Showtime. If it's December 15, it would likely headline on Showtime.
Virgil Hunter is 100% official as Khan's new trainer, as well, and the fight shapes up as a get-well outing for Khan.
"I'm really pleased that Virgil Hunter is to become my new trainer," said Khan via press release. "Everyone in boxing knows about his skills and the success he has enjoyed over the last few years. I'm looking forward to the start of my training camp and working on some new things with him. With Virgil in my corner, I know that I can get back to the very top of the light-welterweight division."
Hunter weighed in with his thoughts, as well. "Amir is an extremely talented fighter and I'm very happy to become his new trainer. I've seen a lot of him and he has many attributes such as his speed and heart. There are certain small aspects of his game that I'm intending to work on in order to help him fulfill his enormous potential."
Molina (17-0-1, 7 KO) is a decent prospect with Golden Boy and Espinoza Boxing, but hardly a blue-chip guy, which is probably why he's getting this shot. He really has nothing to lose in this matchup. At 26, he turned pro in 2007 and has had his name in the press here and there, but hasn't distinguished himself thus far in his career. His best wins have come against Manuel Leyva and Marcos Jimenez a world away from Khan.
He's also 5'6", which means he'll be giving up significant height and likely overall size in the matchup.
The fight isn't booked as a major bout for Khan (26-3, 18 KO), who is coming off of two straight losses to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia, but rather as a way to get him back in action, get him working with Hunter, and keep him in the public eye. It's a tune-up, or a stay-busy fight.
Khan is selling the fight the right way.
"Molina is a good fighter, who has yet to taste defeat, so I know that he will be very dangerous. He's a tricky fighter who possess a lot of natural speed. I always want to face hungry young fighters and in Molina I'm up against a guy who has ambitions of world title success," said Khan.
More will follow on this card, with the exact date to be announced still, and the venue if the fight heads to 12/15 instead of the Cotto card, which would be the preferable idea, in my view, given this fight doesn't have headline strength to draw in the States.