By William Mackay: British junior middleweight Craig Watson (19-3, 8 KO’s) knocked WBA Super World light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) down six years ago when they fought in the ABA, knocking Khan down in the 3rd round. Watson, 28, would like nothing better than to get an opportunity to knock Khan down again, but this time in the pro ranks.

Speaking to the Dailystar.co.uk, the southpaw Watson said “I really want the opportunity to do it again and I feel I have unfinished business with him. He will come up to welterweight in the near future and if he does it is a natural match – one that I hope comes off. I had him on the floor and I think I might have been where he is now if the referee had stopped the fight. He was very fast when I boxed him but I caught him flush on the chin and he went over. It was a long count, but he has learnt a lot from that.”

Watson and Khan are currently separated by two weight divisions, so the chances of Watson getting a fight with Khan in the near future are probably very slim. Khan is planning on moving up in weight to the welterweight division if Khan can beat WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley in a proposed unification bout in the summer. However, Khan wants to move up and take on big stars in the welterweight division and Watson is hardly what you would call a star.

It’s possible, though, that Khan could show interest in facing Watson in the future. After all, Khan is looking to fight unbeaten Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s) on April 16th, and that’s a fight that only boxing fans in the UK really care about. If Khan makes it a habit of coming back to the UK to fight obscure fighters from time to time, Watson could be one that Khan could face to try and get an easy win in front of his British fans.

It wouldn’t be the most smartest thing for Khan to do if he’s hoping to become a worldwide star because boxing fans around the world will likely have no clue who Watson is, just as few know who McCloskey is. But at least Khan would be able to face guys that he can guarantee a win against instead of risking his neck each time out against world class fighters that might actually beat him and ruin his chances of making it big.

Watson faces John O’Donnell (24-1, 11 KO’s) on February 19th for the vacant British welterweight crown at Wembley.