Amir Khan continues the final chapter of his career against Samuel Vargas this Saturday in Birmingham, as the big names bubble in the background for a potential super fight later this year.
The Bolton fighter returns to the ring after blitzing his way past Phil Lo Greco inside 40 seconds back in April, and will also be returning to his preferred weight of 147lbs.
With a stacked Welterweight division ahead of him, ‘King’ Khan will be looking to put on another impressive show to put himself in contention for one of the weight’s elite boxers.
But Samuel Vargas remains encouraged by the vulnerability shown in Khan’s defeats and remains unimpressed by his comeback against Lo Greco.
“I don’t call that a comeback. It was a show really; it wasn’t a fight,” said Vargas. “If he’s expecting the same 40 seconds, it’s a different fight right now.
“He’s received a lot of punishment and mileage on him. I just have to go out there and expose him. If I touch him, he’s going down. That’s a guarantee; left or right, you choose. It’s there; everyone knows it’s there. I just got to land one.”
The Canadian-Colombian has stepped up twice to fight two of the division’s finest, but was stopped on both occasions by Errol Spence Jr. and Danny Garcia.
The Welterweight division is currently stacked with undefeated champions such as Keith Thurman (WBA & WBC), Errol Spence Jr (IBF), Terence Crawford (WBO) and Thulani Mbenge (IBO).
Outside of the champions, there are a host of quality fighters waiting in the wings: Manny Pacquiao remains a scalp all boxers would like, Kell Brook is ready to return to 147lbs to fight Khan, and Danny Garcia faces Shawn Porter in a huge fight which also takes place this Saturday.
Therefore, if Khan wants to return to the top of the sport before he retires, he can’t afford to miss a step against Vargas.
“I have to get past Vargas before looking at the biggest challenges going forward,” said Khan. “I’m not going to be taking Vargas lightly because I know he will be coming with everything on September 8th.
“I hope to give the fans in Birmingham the same excitement and fireworks as my last fight. It will be one not to miss!”
Make sure you check out JD Ringside at 10 pm on Sky Sports, which returns this Friday to provide an in-depth preview of Khan versus Vargas, as well as discussing the hottest topics from around the boxing world.
