Amir Khan hints at fight with Kell Brook in 2017

British boxer Amir Khan has hinted that a fight with International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion Kell Brook could happen at the end of 2017. The British born boxer, who is of Pakistani origin, has been out of the ring since suffering a sixth round knockout loss at the hands of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez earlier this year in May.

The 30-year-old, who moved up to a catch-weight of 155 pounds for the Canelo fight, is expected to drop down to the welterweight category while confirming that he recently had surgery on his right hand and would only return once it's healed.

"I want to fight again in January, then in May and again before the end of 2017. I'm going to start training and make sure my hand is fully recovered. I don't want to rush into a fight at the end of this year", Khan said, as quoted by boxingnews24.

"I want my next fight to be in Britain. I know it's going to have to be a tune-up having lost the Canelo fight and also having the hand surgery."

Khan is the current mandatory challenger to World Boxing Championship (WBC) welterweight champion Danny Garcia's title with authorities waiting for the Brit's hand to heal to give them the green light for the fight. Khan had lost their last bout in 2012 in just four rounds during the unification showdown at junior welterweight.

The realistic option for Khan in the meantime is to fight his fellow countryman Kell Brook considering that the 30-year-old is coming off a loss himself to middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin last Saturday. The Brit jumped up to the middleweight division but could not get past Golovkin who beat him in five rounds.

Khan, who won the bronze medal for Great Britain at the 2004 Athens Olympics, is keen on the idea, claiming that a fight between the two would be huge.

"Welterweight is the weight for me and there are big fights out there still-including Kell. A fight between me and Kell is not only a big fight in England, but it could be big globally", the boxer added.