Amir Khan returns to the MEN Arena for world title shot

Jun 16 2009 By James Shepherd

Bolton’s Amir Khan returns to the M.E.N Arena on Saturday, July 18, for his first world title fight against the Ukrainian WBA light-welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik.

Khan returns to the Manchester venue following his sensational win over Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in March. The 22-year-old Bolton boxer will now move up a division from lightweight to take on Kotelnik for his first attempt at world title glory.

Speaking ahead of the bout, Khan said: "I had a great night at the M.E.N Arena against Barrera last time out and now I aim to win the world title against Kotelnik there too".

Kotelnik won the WBA title in March last year by defeating Welshman Gavin Rees in Cardiff with a 12^th-round stoppage.

The undercard for the fight, which will be live on Sky Box Office, features Olympic trio James DeGale, Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders. The bill will also see Matthew Hall and Anthony Small battling it out for the British and Commonwealth light-middleweight titles.

The M.E.N Arena has staged the biggest British fights in recent times featuring greats like Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Naseem Hamed and more recently classic fights like Joe Calzaghe v Jeff Lacy, Ricky Hatton v Kostya Tszyu and Khan v Marco Antonio Barrera earlier this year.

Tickets, priced £40.00, £50.00, £75.00, £100.00, £150.00, £200.00, £300.00 & £500.00 are on sale now.