By William Mackay: Amir Khan and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions were hoping to see him fight Erik Morales next if Morales beats Lucas Matthysse for the vacant WBC light welterweight on September 17th. Khan wants the WBC belt to go with his IBF and WBA strap before he moves up to the welterweight division.

However, Khan really wants the 35-year-old Morales, who is well known among the older boxing fans who remember his fame over a decade ago. The younger fans only know Morales for getting beaten by Marcos Maidana and don’t seem to care much either way about a Khan-Morales fight. However, Morales is old now, and will likely lose to Matthysse on the 17th. Even if Morales wins, he already said he doesn’t want to fight Khan this year. This leaves Khan with the unhappy choices of facing Matthysse, Breidis Prescott, Marcos Maidana, Lamont Peterson or possibly even Paul McCloskey again.

Paul McCloskey: We already know Khan won’t fight McCloskey again because he just soundly beat him last April in a fight that made Khan look bad because of all the missed shots from him.

Marcos Maidana: Khan also won’t Maidana again because he thinks he beat him easily enough to where he doesn’t have to fight him again. Khan dominated the fight until the 10th, and was badly hurt. From the 10th round on, Khan took enormous punishment, held and was perhaps saved by the numerous breaks in the action by the referee. Had there been a referee that broke the action less, my guess is Khan would have been knocked out in the 10th round. Khan doesn’t want to fight Maidana again.

Breidis Prescott: Khan was already knocked out by Prescott in the 1st round in 2008, and doesn’t want to fight him again. That leaves Prescott out. Although boxing fans really want to see Khan fight Prescott again to see if Khan can actually beat him now, Khan and his promoters remain resistant to this idea and prefer to face other guys. You have to shake your head and wonder why not. When you see Khan fighting guys like McCloskey and ignoring Prescott, it makes you think Khan lacks the confidence to take on Prescott again.

Lucas Matthysse: This is a fighter that is very similar to Maidana, but with better overall skills and speed. Khan wants the WBC belt, but I doubt he wants it bad enough to fight Matthysse for it and risk getting knocked out. Khan is looking for a big money fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2012, and Matthysse can wreck Khan’s world if given the chance. I say Khan avoids Matthysse like the black plague.

Lamont Peterson: Light hitting, weak-chin and a pure boxer. This is who Khan will probably fight next. Peterson gives Khan cover to pick him, as he’s the IBF mandatory challenger for Khan after beating Victor Cayo recently. Hardcore boxing fans know who Peterson is, as do casual boxing fans because his fights have been shown on HBO for some time now. He’s a good servicable contender but not championship material. His lack of power will likely make him an irresistible option for Khan to choose.