By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 15 KO’s) is hoping that his fight against Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO’s) leads to big things for him in the United States. Khan is already a star in the UK, where his fights are shown on PPV and his fights are jam packed with fans. However, now that Khan is no longer fighting smaller lightweights and older fighters with little power, he’s coming to a point in his career where he will very soon find out whether he had the stuff to be a star in boxing.

On May 15th, Khan takes a baby step in becoming famous in the U.S. Whether Khan’s fame is fleeting or lasting will depend on how well Khan does against Malignaggi and his next opponent after that. Khan faces Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden on May 15th, and the fight will be shown on HBO, giving Khan a lot of attention from U.S. fans all across America. Khan has to handle Malignaggi well and beat him with ease for him to get the attention that he wants from the U.S. fans.

If Khan struggles with Malignaggi, it could be a good indication that Khan’s future success in the light welterweight division will be severely limited. However, even if Khan does easily beat Malignaggi, Khan will still be facing a crucial test when/if he’s matched against Marcos Maidana, Timothy Bradley, Victor Ortiz or Devon Alexander. Any one of those fighters will be a huge obstacle for Khan, and if he loses to them, it’s doubtful that he’ll make it in the division.

These are guys that Khan will have to be able to beat if he wants to be the huge star in the U.S. The problem of Maidana may be taken care of for Khan by Bradley, who fights Maidana next in July. With Maidana safely out of the way, Khan would still have his hands full with Bradley and the other aforementioned fighters. I would like to see Khan matched against Bradley immediately if Bradley gets by Maidana next. This was the opponent that Khan was supposed to have fought by now, but Maidana was put off for three fights to get more fights under his belt so that he could get more exposure in the U.S. before fighting Khan.

Well, if Maidana is beaten, then so much for exposure. There will no reason for Khan to fight him any longer, and the one that he should be matched against at that point is Bradley. It will be really telling to see whether Khan’s handlers agree to put Khan in with Bradley at that point. I’d like to think that they would, because you can’t keep the training wheels on Khan forever without putting him against a live opponent that can possibly beat him.

However, I doubt that Khan will be allowed to fight Bradley, especially if he looks good in beating Maidana. I know Khan will eventually have to fight Bradley or else give up his WBA title, but I don’t see that fight happening next after the bout against Malignaggi. If Khan does fight Maidana or Bradley, then I believe he’ll get stopped in the same manner he did in his 1st round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott in 2008. Khan’s 15 minutes of fame, which starts with his win over a light hitting Malignaggi, will have spent. Khan would then be just another contender in the light welterweight division and would have to fight his way into another title shot and hopefully get another opportunity within a year or two.