Boxing: Bruised Khan Still on Course for Capital Debut

Amir Khan will fulfil his next date - his London debut in his fourth professional fight on December 10 - despite badly bruising his hands on Saturday against Steve Gethin. The 18-year-old Olympic silver medallist stopped Gethin in the third round of a one-sided fight in Glasgow, and an opponent is due to be announced shortly for his December engagement at the Excel Arena, where he will appear on the bill topped by the Audley Harrison-Danny Williams heavyweight bout.

"Like many fighters who hit hard, Amir is having a few problems," the promoter Frank Warren said last night, "but it is only bruising and he will be fine. He never complains, but we are getting him checked out. He will be fighting in London, then having a break. He's earned it."

Scott Harrison, the World Boxing Organisation world featherweight champion, will reject advice from his manager Frank Maloney to step up four pounds to compete in the super-featherweight division. Harrison, 28, retained his title on Saturday by outpointing Nedal Hussein, but struggled for stamina after waging a desperate battle to make the nine-stone limit.

The WBO has decreed Harrison must face his mandatory challenger, the undefeated former WBO super-bantamweight champion Joan Guzmán of the Dominican Republic, in the next four months if he is to continue as featherweight champion.

Don King is calling on the World Boxing Council to strip Vitali Klitschko of the world heavyweight title after the Ukrainian pulled out of a title defence, scheduled for Saturday in Las Vegas, against Hasim Rahman. Klitschko claims to be suffering from a knee injury, and it is the third time the fight has been postponed. The promoter Bob Arum is insisting a new date will be set but King said: "It is obvious Klitschko does not want to fight. According to the rules of the WBC, the moment Klitschko cancelled, he vacated the title."