Jeff Horn targeting Amir Khan fight

By Tim Royner: WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs) says he’s interested in fighting Amir ‘King’ Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) if he can comeback from his loss to Saul Canelo Alvarez. Khan has a comeback fight scheduled against Phil Lo Greco on April 21 in Liverpool, England.

If Khan wins that fight, then a match against Horn might be a possibility. It would all depend on how they do in their next fights, and of course with their promoters. Horn, 29, is defending his WBO 147 lb. title against unbeaten Terence Crawford on April 14 on ESPN pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden in New York. Horn is expected to lose that fight to Crawford, If Horn loses badly to Crawford, he won’t be much of an option for Khan. There’s no gain for Khan to fight Horn if he’s coming off of a one-sided loss or a knockout defeat at the hands of Crawford.

“Why not say that I would fight another English fighter,” Horn said to skysports.com. “It’s definitely a possibility and on my radar all the time. I hope he does well, but I don’t know if he’s still got it in him or not,” Horn said.

Horn successfully defended his World Boxing Organization welterweight title last December in stopping British fighter Gary Corcoran in the 11th round in Brisbane, Australia. That was far from an easy fight for Horn, but he got the ‘W’ and was able to move on his next title defense against the 30-year-old Crawford.

Khan’s promoter Eddie Hearn is very unlikely to consider matching him up against Horn in his second fight of his comeback after his April 21st match against Phil Lo Greco (28-3, 15 KOs). Hearn’s goal is to keep Khan winning until he can put together a fight against former IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook in December on Sky Box Office.

Despite Khan and Brook being on the downside of their careers, there are still enough boxing fans in the UK interested in seeing the two face each other to make it a successful venture on PPV. The interest in a Khan-Brook would mainly be in the UK. The fans outside of the UK would be more interested in seeing Khan fight the likes of Keith Thurman and Errol Spence Jr. Those are considered the 2 best fighters in the 147 lb. division. Horn is viewed as a paper champion after his narrow and controversial win over Manny Pacquiao last July.

Hearn is going to be very careful with the next opponent he matches Khan against. It definitely won’t be Jeff Horn with him coming off of a loss to Crawford. Horn would have everything to gain, and nothing to lose in that situation. Khan has a lot to lose if he gets beaten by Horn. He could forget about a big money cash out fight with Brook, because the British boxing public would no longer be interested in the fight in high enough numbers for it to be worthwhile.