By Sean McDaniel: Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) is quite pleased with the ticket sales for his upcoming bout with number #5 ranked WBA light welterweight contender Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s) for their bout on April 16th a the M.E.N Arena, in Manchester, England. In the first day that tickets were put on sale for this fight, 9000 tickets were quickly scooped up by boxing fans eager to see this match-up.

These are huge numbers given that the M.E.N Arena seats 23,000 and there’s over two months to go before the April 16th fight between Khan and McCloskey.

Khan, speaking on his twitter account, said “The venue I’m fighting have just sold 9000 tickets on the first day. The most they ever sold at the M.E.N. Selling quick, guys. Tickets are selling fast. Please ensure you book your tickets early to avoid disappointment. Buy now.”

This is a fight that’s kind of difficult to understand by people from America, because this appears to be a total mismatch. McCloskey hasn’t faced anyone in the top tier before and yet boxing fans in the UK are eager to see this fight. If this fight were to take place in the United States, and McCloskey was merely an obscure belt holder among the various little known belts that are floating around, they would literally have to give tickets away to get people to want to see this fight. Yet Khan is able to sell a ton of tickets against a fighter that doesn’t have much popularity. It shows you how popular Khan is right now. Hopefully, he stays that way in the future when he finally faces Timothy Bradley.