Khan ready to turn back on Britain

Amir Khan
12 April 2012

Amir Khan is ready to turn his back on Britain "for a long time" after the row over television coverage for Saturday's WBA light-welterweight title defence against Paul McCloskey.

The Englishman's first fight on home soil since 2009 has been overshadowed by a falling out concerning the broadcast of the bout this week, with Khan insisting he receives more support from television companies in the United States than he does here.

At Manchester's MEN Arena on Saturday night he takes on unbeaten Northern Irish southpaw McCloskey before hopefully securing the chance to face American Timothy Bradley in a unification contest this summer. "I've always said from day one that there is more money to be made for me in America if I fought there, but I chose to come here and fight live in front of my own fans," he said.

"That's just me. I just wanted to do that and put a fight on. But being a British fighter and having more support from American TV just shows that as a British fighter I should have had British TV supporting me more. I'm not going to say it could be my last fight in Britain because I think there are some big fights for me in Britain.

"But I think it will be a long time until I come back again because while I want to have the big fights in England, it will be quite difficult to make them. I think they will probably be more likely in America."

After the McCloskey fight was dropped from Sky Box Office and Khan's team rejected the option of more exposure but less money on Sky Sports 3, he will now appear on the low profile Primetime channel, with McCloskey's promoter Eddie Hearn claiming the challenger is now earning more than the champion - which Khan disputes.

Many expect Saturday to be a straightforward night's work for Khan against an unbeaten but untested McCloskey. The 31-year-old reigning European champion is respected as an agile and tricky southpaw but Khan expects his regular sparring sessions with the greatest 'lefty' of them all, Manny Pacquiao, to stand him in good stead.

"Training with Manny has helped me because he is a southpaw; he gave me some good tips," said Khan, who trains alongside the pound-for-pound king under Freddie Roach. "I was watching him train and spar and thinking about things McCloskey does and he's the best southpaw in the world."

Khan's decision to relocate to Los Angeles to train under Freddie Roach following his shock 2008 loss to Breidis Prescott has already paid huge dividends. And the 24-year-old believes his intense sessions with Pacquiao are a useful yardstick to show how far he has come.

"There are times sparring Manny when I get the better of him now and there are times he gets the better of me," Khan said. "I think it just depends on how he feels some days and how I feel some days. When we spar it's just full-on sparring, we learn from each other and I don't think I could get better sparring than Manny Pacquiao."

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