Khan will defend his hold on the WBA light-welterweight title

Britain's Amir Khan will defend his WBA light-welterweight title against Paulie Malignaggi in New York on 15 May, Golden Boy Promotions has confirmed.

The fight will take place at Madison Square Garden and will be Khan's first in the United States.

Khan, who won the title last July, had been expected to face Juan Manuel Marquez but that fight fell through.

He and Malignaggi are scheduled to meet at a press conference on Tuesday to formally announce the contest.

Malignaggi, who lost to Ricky Hatton in 2008, recently avenged a defeat by Juan Diaz last year to re-establish himself as as a world title contender.

But he will need to produce something special to beat Khan, who beat Dmitriy Salita in just 76 seconds in a mandatory title defence last December.

606: DEBATE I reckon Malignaggi is gonna 'school' Khan, he is vastly underrated and Juan Diaz was a major player at lightweight and got made to look average by Paulie VillaMan

Rumours circulated for some time about Khan's next fight, with Marquez and Marcos Maidana, the current mandatory challenger, among potential opponents.

But after Marquez reportedly turned down an offer to meet Khan, he turned his attention to 29-year-old New Yorker Malignaggi, who is also promoted by the American company.

"I'm just going to go in there to do what I normally do and I really think Malignaggi has a style which is going to make me look good," Khan said last month.

"He's not at my level. He has a few good wins in America, but it's another fight for me and I'll go there and do what I have to do."

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