Amir Khan’s American journey will reach the US capital on Saturday night when he defends his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles against Washingtonian Lamont Peterson.

The tough and durable hometown fighter may not be the huge marquee name that Khan is working towards, but he is certainly another step in the right direction.

Khan has gradually been winning over fight fans stateside with his run of victories across the Atlantic; Paulie Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana and most recently Zab Judah from whom he claimed the IBF strap.

It seems like there is nothing Khan cannot do and with trainer Freddie Roach in his corner, the odds are certainly in his favour.

A showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr is top of the list for Khan, but first he has to venture into hostile waters and impress in DC against Peterson.

Peterson, 29-1-1 (15 KOs), is a tough opponent with the only set-backs on his record coming against world class opponents.
He went the distance with WBO champion Timothy Bradley, picking himself off the canvas in round three, and drew with former WBC welterweight champ Victor Ortiz.

Peterson started slow against the heavy-handed Ortiz and found himself on the canvas twice in the third round.
However, the determined 27-year-old battled back and out-boxed ‘Vicious Victor’ to take some of the later rounds. The judges scored the bout a draw; a ruling Peterson may have been fortunate to secure.

In both these fights Peterson showed real signs of his true potential and his boxing ability, not to mention his strong will and determination which forced him to get up off the floor and fight on.

Khan may be looking to make a statement against Peterson and send a message to the rest of division, but he will have a tough night’s work if he is looking to stop Peterson.

Khan, 26-1 (18 KOs), is growing in every aspect of his ability. His speed, power, reflexes and durability are continually improving under the guidance of Roach. His reuniting with Alex Ariza hasn’t done him any damage either.

The 25-year-old is growing from strength to strength as was evident in his two most recent fights; a war with Marcos Maidana and a domination of Zab Judah.

Maidana, a hard hitting Argentinean, looked likely to knock Khan out in the tenth round of their gruelling battle and he knocked Khan from one end of the ring to the other. Roach, watching from the corner, admitted he had considered throwing in the the towel.

However Khan, whose ability to take a punch had been questioned since his knockout loss to Breidis Prescott in 2008, weathered the storm and even traded with his opponent en route to an unanimous decision.

It was a different story against Judah who was bewildered by Khan’s slick boxing and speed and eventually succumbed to a body blow in the fifth round back in July. The reigning IBF champion ran out of ideas pretty quickly and complained that the fight finishing blow was low, but it was clear the New Yorker had had enough.

Khan, with his growing skill and confidence, certainly has all the attributes to deal with Peterson comfortably but he must remain focussed on the job at hand. While talk of Mayweather and Bradley fights fly around, neither will happen if he stumbles on Saturday night.

Peterson, meanwhile, has shown he has the ability to box and box well and if he has also continued to improve then we may be in for a competitive fight.

However, Khan’s accuracy, ability to throw from all angles and sustain an attack could well stop Peterson for the first time in his career. Failing that, a comfortably wide unanimous decision for ‘King’ Khan.