By William Mackay: World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) says he wants to silence his critics by lining up the champions after his fight on May 15th against Paulie Malignaggi. In an article by writer Steve Bunce at the Mirror, Khan says “This is not an easy fight [referring to his bout against the light hitting Malignaggi] like some people claim and after this I will silence people by fighting one of the top Americans. I’ve heard a lot of people accusing me of taking the easy route and that is crazy. I fight the men my promoters put in front of me. There are other champions at the moment and I want to start lining them up right now.”

However, if Khan is correct about his promoters calling the shots and not him, then his promoters could rule out putting Khan in against the other light welterweight champions Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley and continue to have Khan defend his WBA title against whoever they want to put him in with. I seriously doubt that Khan will be put in with Bradley or Alexander now or anytime soon. I think it makes for a good quote when Khan mentions wanting to fight the champions, but I don’t see it happening.

If Khan beats number #3 WBA ranked Malignaggi on May 15th, my guess is that Khan will be put in with a soft contender near the bottom of the light welterweight heap, someone like Jose Miguel Cotto, Patrick Lopez or Prawet Singwangcha. Interestingly enough, Colombian Breidis Prescott, the fighter who knocked Khan out in the 1st round in September 2008, is fighting on the undercard of Khan’s match against Malignaggi on the 15th. Could Prescott be the next opponent for Khan? Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

It’s a fight that a lot of boxing fans would like to see, because Khan never attempted to avenge his defeat to Prescott. However, it’s sad that Prescott has been beaten twice since the win over Khan. Lightweight Kevin Mitchell is another fighter that could be on Khan’s radar. Mitchell has been talking a lot to the media about wanting to fight Khan. This could be an option that Khan could take to stay busy. It’s obviously not the fight the U.S. fans want to see, though. They want to see Khan fight WBA Light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana, but Khan doesn’t appear to be interested in fighting Maidana now – if ever.

Khan says “Let me get rid of Malignaggi and look good doing it – then I will tell Oscar [De La Hoya] to get me one of the other champions. This is a great division at the moment and I want to be known as a great champion.” If Khan wants to be a great champion, then he needs to start fighting some quality fighters like Maidana, Bradley and Alexander instead of the guys he’s been fighting. Khan didn’t have to fight Malignaggi. He could have pushed for a bout against Maidana. If he wanted to gain the respect that he craves in the U.S., then he would get it immediately if he was to fight and beat Maidana or one of the other light welterweight champions. But will Khan fight them? I don’t know. I have my doubts.