Amir Khan vs. Humberto Soto possible for April 20th in the UK

By Boxing News - 01/24/2013 - Comments

soto21421By Scott Gilfoid: A fight between former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (29-3, 19 KO’s) and former two division world champion Humberto Soto (59-8-2, 34 KO’s) is possible for April 20th in the UK, according to RingTV. Soto, 32, is on board with the fight.

Soto’s manager Michael Miller told RingTV that Soto is agreeable to the fight. The only thing that needs to be worked out is the financial numbers.

This obviously isn’t the high profile opponent that Khan was supposed to have, but it does give you a pretty good idea how concerned Golden Boy Promotions is about wanting to build up Khan’s shattered confidence and keep him from getting beaten again.

This is like another tune-up fight for Khan. His fight with lightweight unranked Carlos Molina was a tune-up, and Khan was supposedly ready to start facing quality opposition again, but if he faces Soto in April, then you’ve got to consider this as just another tune-up. Soto is a super featherweight/lightweight in frame but with a little weight put on to make him a light welterweight.

Depending on how much you know about boxing you’ll see this fight in one of a couple of ways. For casual fans who remember how good Soto once was at super featherweight and lightweight in the past, they’ll likely think Khan is taking on a good opponent and have a lot of respect for his choice. But for hardcore boxing fans that saw how easily Lucas Matthysse beat Soto last June in a 5th round stoppage, many of them will see this as basically just another Carlos Molina type fight for Khan.

Soto is fighting at welterweight now, but he’s a career super featherweight that moved up to lightweight in 2009 to chase bigger fights.

Soto won titles at super featherweight and lightweight, and he was very good in both of those divisions. However, he’s not the same fighter he once after moving up to light welterweight and I can only imagine what he’s like fighting at welterweight.

I guess this is what you call getting the fighter at the right time in his career, something Khan has said before. A younger Soto would have given Khan a lot of problems if the fight were held when Khan was fighting at lightweight years ago, but now it’s like Khan’s fighting Marco Antonio Barrera again. Soto isn’t the same fighter he once was.



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