Gavin Rees on shortlist for Khan

Gavin Rees, the former WBA light-welterweight champion, is on the shortlist to be the next opponent for Amir Khan. No opponent has yet been announced for Khan's bout at the MEN Arena, Manchester, on September 6 - where he will share top billing with Alex Arthur's first defence of his WBO super-featherweight title against Nicky Cook - other than it will be a defence of his Commonwealth lightweight title, but my understanding is that Rees's name is in the frame.

Rees will be the second former world champion that Khan has faced, after he beat Gairy St Clair, the former IBF super-featherweight champion based in Australia, on points in February. Rees, though, would be stepping down in weight to face Khan, not up.

Having said that, Rees was not a natural light-welterweight. He had stepped up to 10st when offered a shot at Souleymane M'Baye in Cardiff last summer and pulled off a huge upset victory. But the reign was short when he was stopped in his first defence by Andreas Kotelnik.

Khan has agreed a new long-term deal with Frank Warren and the plan going forward is for Khan to box in December, providing he wins in September. A week after Khan's next bout, Nate Campbell is due to defend his collection of world lightweight titles against Joan Guzman. Khan is due to be next in line for the winner, although that challenge is set to wait for next year.

After being put on the floor by Michael Gomez in his last bout, there is no longer any rush for Khan to get his world-title shot. "It's about winning the world title and having a career in going on to defend it," Warren said. "I just feel that a little bit more experience, not only would he win it and win it in style he'd go on and reign for a very long time. And that is really the art of this business.

"I'm not saying he's not good enough to win a world title now - he probably could do that - but a bit more experience means he'll go in there fully equipped and deal with any scenario, any style and you go on and defend it and hold the title for a long time. That's what boxing is all about.

"Occasionally you might make a mistake but at the end of the day it's about giving them the guidance so they have longevity in the sport."

At a press conference in Manchester this week, even Khan did not seem in a rush any more. "My time will come," he said. "I want to fight for a big world title and show the critics how good I am. I've got it all in the tank."