UK welterweight Amir Khan is defiant ahead of his return to the sport of boxing following a period of nearly two years away from the ring since he last fought.

That night came to Canelo Alvarez in May of 2015 when Khan bravely ventured up an entire two weight classes in one go to middleweight.

Only to be knocked out cold.

In truth, it was not a surprising result given the jump up in weight, Canelo’s punching power and Khan’s punch resistance history.

But you have to give credit to Khan for having the bottle to move up.

Very few, if any, would.

Funnily enough his most bitter rival Kell Brook did against Gennady Golovkin. Only to suffer a similar fate.

But that’s all in the past now and speaking on his official Instagram account Khan posted the following defiant message:

“2018 king is back. Can’t wait to fight in the UK. It’s been 5 years since I last fought in England. Next fights April 21st at Liverpool Echo arena tickets go on sale soon.”

Khan recently signed a new three-fight deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom and one leading contender for his first fight back has been mooted as South African Chris Van Heerden.