By William Mackay: IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson’s positive drug results that showed synthetic testosterone in his blood has left Amir Khan in a precarious situation where he might actually end up having to face someone even better than Peterson in Devon Alexander (23-1, 13 KO’s).

Khan’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions want Khan to fight on July 7th, and there’s just not enough time to wait until easier options are open for Khan, such as WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia.

Garcia already let Khan and Golden Boy know that he won’t or can’t take the fight with Khan unless it’s a unification bout, because he’s got a mandatory challenger Ajose Olusegun that he’s got to fight next if he wants to hold onto his WBC title. The only way Garcia can take the fight with Khan is if it’s a unification bout, and Khan doesn’t have the title bait to make that happen.

As such, Khan’s options boil down to Devon Alexander or Erik Morales for July 7th, unless Golden Boy are willing to put Khan in with a lesser fighter that will draw zero interest from boxing fans. The chances of Khan getting the recently beaten 35-year-old Morales aren’t good, because Morales is being talked about as a potential opponent for Juan Manuel Marquez on July 14th, and that’s much better option for Morales than a fight against Khan. The Morales-Marquez fight would be a pay-per-view event, whereas a fight between Morales and Khan would be shown on regular HBO, because Khan isn’t as popular as Marquez in the United States.

The real question is would Khan be willing to take on a dangerous fighter like Alexander? He could easily wreck the Khan gravy train and ruin the chances of Khan ever getting a shot against Floyd Mayweather Jr. A loss for Khan against Alexander would be Khan’s third defeat, and there likely wouldn’t be enough time for Golden Boy to rebuild Khan’s career with beatable opposition. It would take at a minimum of 2 years to get Khan back up there, and by then Mayweather likely will be on his way of boxing.