Amir Khan could become a world champion this year after it was confirmed that he will fight a WBO lightweight title eliminator against Martin Kristjansen on April 5.

Frank Warren had explored the possibility of Khan making his US debut before the promoter opted for Kristjansen. "We had a contract with Kristjansen which he insisted we honour and that's what we've done,” Warren said. “But it's worked out well because it's put Amir in the frame to fight for the world title, hopefully at some point this year."

Khan's seventeenth professional fight will be staged in his hometown of Bolton. Kristjansen, of Denmark, has won 19 of his 23 fights, while Khan is unbeaten. The Dane was scheduled to fight Khan on February 2 but had to pull out with flu.

Kristjansen, 30, ranked the world's No 2 lightweight by the WBO, is no puncher with just five of his 19 victories arriving inside the distance. Khan, who has knocked out 12 of his 16 opponents, produced an impressive points win over respected veteran Gairy St Clair in his last outing.

Victory at the Bolton Arena will keep alive Khan's feint hopes of supplanting Naseem Hamed as the youngest British world champion of all time. His chances of breaking Hamed's record look remote - the cut off point is the end of June - but Warren insists he will fight for a version of the world title before the end of the year.

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