AMIR Khan is already one of Bolton’s greatest ever sporting heroes.

By this time next year he could be THE greatest.

I stopped up until 6am on Sunday morning to watch his fight against Devon Alexander.

I paid for it for the next couple of days, but it was worth it because Khan was magnificent.

He beat the former world champion with a stunning performance to set up a potential fight against either Manny Pacquaio or Floyd Mayweather Junior.

Beat one of those and he’ll go down as a Bolton sporting legend to rival Nat Lofthouse and Jason Kenny in his achievements.

I never thought Khan deserved to be in the same ring as the likes of Pacquaio of Mayweather until seven months ago.

That was when he beat Luis Collazo and looked like a seriously world-class boxer for the first time.

He followed that up with Sunday morning’s performance which was as mesmerisingly good.

His trainer for the last two years, Virgil Hunter, has worked wonders helping to turn him into the real deal.

Khan’s hands are now constantly high, his footwork outstanding and his concentration intense.

Add that to his whiplash speed and he is now a match for anyone. And that includes Mayweather and Pacquiao.

Khan obviously wants to fight Mayweather next. Who wouldn’t when it could earn him between £7million and £10m?

The same figure is likely to await him if he meets Pacquaio next.

The problem is Mayweather and Pacquiao are now talking about fighting each other in May.

To be honest, much as want to see Khan against one of those two, I would prefer it to wait until the end of the year if it means we can finally see Mayweather and Pacquiao meet.

That is a fight the world has been wanting to see for years and there would be a big hole left in the history of boxing if they never fought each other.

Mayweather is 37 and Pacquaio 35 and Khan is worried about Mayweather retiring after fighting Pacquaio and him never getting his chance to step in the ring with him.

That’s boxing. The bigger fight is Mayweather/Pacquaio right now and whether Khan ever gets the chance to fight either or not, that’s the one I and the rest of the boxing world wants to see more.

At only 28, Khan will have his day to prove he is a true world great or not in the future.

And with the money dangled in front of the winner of Mayweather/Pacquaio to fight him, I wouldn’t mind betting he’ll get his wish of meeting one of these two true greats by this time next year.