By Sean McDaniel: The fight between WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) and #6 ranked Lamont Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KO’s) is expected to be announced this week, perhaps on Monday, for a fight that will be taking place on April 16th at the M.E.N Arena, in Manchester, England. Khan, 24, barely survived his last fight against Marcos Maidana after getting clipped in the 10th.

Because of all the punishment Khan took in that fight there’s no way his handlers were going to risk putting him in with a another big puncher like Breidis Prescott or Victor Ortiz for his next fight. This is where the light punching Peterson comes in. He can’t punch, his chin is questionable, and he just finished taking a beating in a questionable 10 round draw with Victor Ortiz in December.

Peterson appeared to lose by at least four rounds on my card, and HBO also scored the fight for Ortiz by a sizable margin. Peterson hit the deck twice in the fight and would have likely been downed more often had Ortiz fought in his old style and come forward all night long instead of backing up so much against the Peterson.

Khan will be using Peterson as a tune-up for his fight against the winner of the Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander bout which takes place later on this month. Khan wants to impress his fans in the UK, while at the same time get the attention of fans in the U.S. HBO will likely air the Khan-Peterson fight despite Khan not being matched against an exciting opponent. They’re counting on Khan becoming a future star. Khan may be alright as long as he’s kept away from punchers, because he didn’t look good against Maidana and that wasn’t an impressive fight if you’re looking for something to get excited about with Khan. If I’m seeing him for the first time, I’m not going to walk away thinking this is the next Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. I’m thinking it’s another fighter with a weak chin that’s forced to run around the ring all night long to keep from getting knocked out.