Amir Khan announces surprise next opponent

Khan will take on former light-welterweight world champion Algieri on May 30 at the Barclay Center in New York.

But the choice of opponent is a surprise, given that Khan had been widely expected to meet either Adrien Broner or IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook.

Algieri's last outing came in November when he took on Manny Pacquiao in a disastrous bout, which saw him get knocked down six times en-route to the first defeat of his professional career.

"You can class him as an 'A' class opponent," said Khan.

"He knows how to box, he knows how to move well. He takes a decent amount of shots and he's got a decent amount of power.

"Hopefully this can lead me onto the bigger fights in the future, which we're all looking at."

American Broner had been tipped to be Khan's next opponent after having tweeted a video of himself 'face timing' Khan, with the hashtag #BronerVSKhan was also tweeted by the 25-year-old.

The unbeaten Brook was another potential match-up for Khan - and Khan did confirm his intention to take on his compatriot "within 12 months" in an all-British fight at Wembley.

But Khan's opponent for May instead turned out to be Algieri, a 31-year-old former kickboxer, with the Bolton-based fighter announcing the news on his wife's YouTube channel.