By Steve Lillis

AMIR KHAN is set to ambush Ricky Hatton’s comeback by fighting Juan Manuel Marquez before his close friend.

‘The Hitman’ has put Marquez top of his list when he returns this summer, but WBA light-welterweight champion Khan has been offered a clash against the Mexican superstar instead.

Khan, 23, dumped promoter Frank Warren 10 days ago and signed a three-fight deal with leading American outfit Golden Boy.

A clash against the three-weight world champion Marquez in April would help launch Khan towards global stardom.

The Bolton fighter said: “It is my mission to fight men like Marquez and that would be my dream fight in America.”

The WBA have ordered Khan to face Marcos Maidana, but trainer Freddie Roach said: “Maidana is not well known enough and there is not enough money in that fight.

“If it gets built up, it could be a real big fight, so the thing is we are going to fight someone else and they have asked me if we would fight Marquez and I said, ‘Yes we will fight Marquez’.

“So that’s on the table now and he’s a possible opponent.”

Khan could be stripped of his world title if he fights anyone but Argentine Maidana.

Roach added: “Amir is very proud of his title and doesn’t want to give it up. Maybe we could put Maidana on this (Khan-Marquez) undercard and maybe the winners could fight each other.”

Juan Diaz and Paulie Malignaggi are other opponents on the short list for Khan’s eagerly-awaited Stateside debut.

Marquez, 36, was outpointed by Floyd Mayweather Jnr in September, and has drawn and lost a controversial split decision in showdowns against Manny Pacquiao.

He still holds the WBA and WBO lightweight titles having cleaned up the 135lb division.

Khan added: “I think he is made for my style and if I beat Marquez, it would make my name a lot bigger in the States.”

Special To BoxingScene.com From The Daily Star