AMIR Khan could be set for a WBO lightweight title shot if he beats Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera today at the MEN Arena, Manchester.

With Barrera ranked number one by the WBO and Khan also rated inside the top 10, promoter Frank Warren is lobbying to make the fight a final eliminator.

The title is held by Juan Manuel Marquez, who beat Juan Diaz in March.

“Barrera is number one with them and Amir is the next available contender, so it should be,” said Warren.

“I hope they will recognise it as that because it deserves to be, we’ll keep our fingers crossed,” he added.

“We’ll see what happens and how Amir looks in the fight.

“If he does what I hope he can do and what I believe he can do, then this is going to be a big, big occasion and put him in a position which hopefully opens a lot of doors for us to decide what the next move is.”

An estimated 3 000 fans attended yesterday’s weigh-in at the Triangle Shopping Centre in Manchester, where Khan weighed in at 134½lb, half a pound under the lightweight limit, while Barrera came in bang on the limit after stripping naked.

Khan, 22, is certainly aware of how important this fight is and knows victory could see him erase the memory of his only defeat by Colombian Breidis Prescott in September 2008.

The Bolton fighter says he has learned from that defeat, claiming his link-up with trainer Freddie Roach has changed his style.

He has adopted a more cautious approach and has vowed there will be no return to the reckless style that saw him knocked out by Prescott inside a minute.

“The key is going to be staying focused, having a game plan and following it,” said Khan.

“I’ve just got to be more careful in this fight, be patient and control the fight. In the Prescott fight I rushed in a little bit, I was running into punches.

“That’s not my style. My style is more slick, hit and move. That’s what I’m going to stick to. The biggest improvement under Freddie has been my defence.

“After the Prescott fight I needed to work at it and working on my defence has made me a better fighter in a whole different way. It made me more focused and composed and made me think about things more.”

On the same bill, Romford’s Nicky Cook defends his WBO super-featherweight title against Roman Martinez of Puerto Rico, Enzo Maccarinelli fights Olo Afolabi for the interim WBO cruiserweight title and Bradley Pryce defends his Commonwealth light-middleweight title against Matthew Hall. (BBC Sport)