By John F. McKenna (McJack): Amir Khan AKA “King Khan” (25-1, 17 KO’s) will be returning home to his native England to defend his WBC World Light Welterweight Championship title at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester on April 16. His opponent will be unbeaten EBU Champion Paul “Dudey” McCloskey (27-0, 12 KO’s) from Northern Ireland. Amir Khan, who is very popular in England, will be returning to England for the first time since winning the title in December of 2009. Khan is eager to impress his loyal following of fans and acknowledges that the unbeaten McCloskey will be a tough opponent.

McCloskey stated that fighting for a World Championship is a dream come true and insists that he will not waste the opportunity. McCloskey added that he has sacrificed a lot to get here and will be at his very best come ring time. He was quoted as saying that “Khan is a very good fighter and I respect him, but he is beatable and I intend to do just that.”

There is nothing like an Amir Khan fight in England with all the excitement it brings said Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, who noted that there will be a great deal of electricity in the air on the night of the fight.

“King Khan” has been trying to live down his one round KO at the hands of Breidis Prescott in September, 2008. Breidis caught Khan early in the first round and the fight was over in just fifty four seconds. Khan took on trainer Freddie Roach shortly after losing to Prescott and has won all of his fights since that time. Amir defeated Andreas Kotelnik on July 18, 2009 for the WBC World Light Welterweight Championship. On December 11, 2010 Khan defended his title against Marcos Maidana, the power puncher from Argentina, in a fight that would win “Fight of the Year” honors for 2010 from Sports Illustrated. Khan built up an early lead over Maidana and scored a first round knockdown with some well placed body shots and superb boxing throughout the early rounds. In the late rounds however, Marcos roughed up Amir after finally connecting with his power shots. Khan survived the storm and won the unanimous decision, showing that he could come back after being stung by Maidana.

At his stage of his career, Khan appears to be on his way to achieving super stardom, although there are still questions about how sturdy his chin is. He has put to rest any questions there may have been regarding his heart. He passed that test against Marcos Maidana this past December. Of course all the hype of being a future super star would quickly go down the drain for Khan if he suffers another knockout. As things stand now, Amir will in all probability fight Timothy Bradley in July if he gets past Paul McCloskey on April 16.

It has recently been reported in the media that Khan has been dating glamour super model Katie Price. Katie, who recently split with her husband, jetted from Los Angeles to Vegas to watch Amir defend his title against Maidana in December. The pair was then spotted at a pre Oscar party at the lavish London Hotel in Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Katie has also been showing up at “King Khan’s” gym training sessions. Trainer Freddie Roach is determined to keep the pair apart while Khan is in training and has suggested that the 24 year old future super star stay with his father. Roach knows full well that a torrid love affair at the wrong time can be more devastating to a fighter’s career than the best of left hooks.