By Miguel Rivera

Former world champion Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) was honored at the WBC's 54th Convention, which took place in Florida. The WBC gave him an award for his unstinting work in Pakistani communities, particularly in education.

Khan is planning out his return for 2017 - and he wants to fight again no later than a date in April.

In August, he underwent two surgical procedures to correct some issues with his right hand. Surgeons had to take bone from his hip and grafting it on to his damaged hand – holding it together with metal pins. He was ordered to stay away from using that hand for three months.

In his last fight, Khan took a huge risk by moving up to a catch-weight of 155-pounds to challenge Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) for the WBC middleweight title in May. In what was the very first boxing event to be held at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Canelo brutally knocked out Khan in the sixth round.

Khan did very well when the contest started, but Canelo's clear advantages in size and strength proved to be too much to overcome.

"I was hitting Saul with some good shots. If I was a bit bigger and heavier I would have taken him out. It was a great experience for me, but you have to respect weight categories. I tested myself, but it just didn't work for me," Khan said.

Khan is still the mandatory challenger to the WBC welterweight title, which is held by Danny Garcia. On March 4th, Garcia will defend the WBC belt in a unification with WBA champion Keith Thurman. Khan would be in line to face the winner.

Another option is a very lucrative fight with his UK rival, IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook - who is currently under order to make a mandatory defense against Errol Spence.