Boxing: Dungiven's Paul McCloskey looks set to meet WBA light-welterweight champion Amir Khan the MEN Arena in Manchester in April.
The 31-year-old European champion is unbeaten in 22 professional bouts and feels he now has what it takes to beat the Bolton fighter.
"I have wanted this fight for a while now and I believe I can beat him. I also believe on my day I can beat anybody in the world," McCloskey told the Belfast Telegraph.
Khan sees the fight as a ‘tune-up’ for a unification bout with the winner of the all-American fight between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander on January 29th. Bradley is the WBO light-welterweight champion and Alexander holds the WBC belt.
The Olympic silver medallist, however, is not taking the Irish southpaw lightly.
“He's an undefeated fighter. I'm happy to take the fight on,” he told the BBC. “The next level for him is world title and I'm to take the fight on. He's a good fighter.”
Khan was believed to be targeting a bout with Memphis fighter Lamont Peterson, but claims it fell through because the American was asking for “too much money”.
Peterson’s loss is McCloskey’s gain and the Irish southpaw will no doubt relish his shot at the big time, which is likely to come on April 16th.
Khan, who trains alongside Manny Pacquaio in Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, claimed the WBA title with a unanimous points win over Andriy Kotelnik in July 2009, before successfuly defending it against Dmitriy Salita, Paul Malignaggi and Marcos Rene Maidana.
The 24-year-old's only defeat in a 25 fight career came in a first round defeat to Colombian Breidis Prescott at the MEN Arena in September 2008.