ESPN Boxing

British lightweight Amir Khan, the 2007 ESPN.com prospect of the year, will fight his first former world titleholder on Feb. 2 in London, promoter Frank Warren announced Monday.

Khan (15-0, 12 KOs) will defend his Commonwealth title against Gairy St. Clair (39-5-2, 17 KOs), who briefly held a version of the junior lightweight world title in 2006 before losing it on points to Cassius Baloyi and moving up in weight.

St. Clair replaces Denmark's Martin Kristjansen, who withdrew last week because of the flu.

St. Clair, 32, is an upgrade of opponent. In addition to having held an alphabet title, he has faced former titleholders Vivian Harris, Leonard Dorin and the late Diego "Chico" Corrales, losing decisions to all three.

"St. Clair is certainly a big step up for Amir and the toughest opponent that he has faced in his career so far," Warren said. "He is a former world champion and would be a great scalp for Amir. It was disappointing that Kristjansen pulled out due to illness but I believe that we have an even better fight now with St. Clair."

St. Clair, a native of Guyana living in Australia, has never been stopped, which is what the 21-year-old Khan, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, aims to do in his first bout since blowing away Graham Earl in 72 seconds on Dec. 8.

"As soon as the videos of him come in, I will sit down with my trainer Oliver Harrison and draw up the battle plans to beat him," said Khan, whose goal this year is to become the youngest Brit to win a world title. "His record looks very impressive and he has been in with some great names like Vivian Harris and Diego Corrales. If he has made these two go the distance then I know I've got a hard fight on my hands.

"Obviously, the motivation is to be the first to stop him, which would look fantastic on my record, but I've also got great boxing skills to back it up with."

Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.