Amir Khan Goes to Washington

Top-ranked junior welterweight Amir “King” Khan attended a State Department Eid celebration for Muslim athletes on September 8th at the invitation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Apparently the trip made quite an impression on Khan, because the District is now the front runner to host his unified title defense on December 10th against local favorite Lamont Peterson. Detroit is another possibility thanks to its sizable Muslim population along with Montreal, which has recently become a hotbed of the sport thanks to local draws like Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal.

We’ve been clamoring for DC to get a major fight since the founding of this site so you won’t here us complaining, particularly since Peterson is a hometown fighter and should present more of a challenge for Khan than either Zab Judah or Paul McCloskey. Friend of the site David Greisman tells us the fight is likely headed to DAR Constitution Hall if it comes here, while the Silverdome and Bell Center seem the likely venues in Motown and Montreal respectively. Regardless of where the fight is held, count on us bringing you all of the action from ringside.