Now is the time for Garcia to Hearn himself a mega payday against Khan

THEY are fighting on opposite sides of the Atlantic on the same night in bouts that could lead to a redemptive rematch for Amir Khan.

Next week I will focus on Khan’s second comeback fight against Samuel Vargas in Birmingham. The direction of travel is obvious should he and Danny Garcia come through their respective engagements.

Garcia takes on Shawn Porter for the vacant WBC welterweight title at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn next Saturday.

This is Garcia’s first crack at regaining the title he lost in the unification bout with Keith Thurman last year, the only defeat of his career. In his one comeback fight since then, he had little trouble dispatching Brandon Rios and will be looking to see off Porter to re-establish himself in a division flush with alpha talent.

Garcia first came to prominence beating Erik Morales for the vacant WBC super lightweight crown six years ago before upsetting Khan (right) a few months later in a unification showdown in Las Vegas.

Since then Garcia has laboured through a series of mundane defences before stepping up to welterweight to claim the vacant WBC crown two years ago against Robert Guerrero.

Garcia is a great puncher, particularly with the left hook, as he showed in whacking Vargas next up in a non-title fight.

But he does not fight at great pace and struggles to get people out of their seats, while Porter is short for the division but strong. I’m edging towards Garcia’s punching power to give him the verdict over Porter’s durability. The goal for both is to get back to the top table in a division that features genuine super stars in Errol Spence and Terence Crawford. Equally attractive to Garcia would be Khan. There would be money on the table, especially now Khan’s promoter Eddie Hearn has a base in the States.