Amir Khan expects his next adventure to be the most exciting of his life. Today he begins the build-up to his American debut, having been told by Golden Boy, his new promoter, that it expects him to be sharing a ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao in 18 months.

A press conference in Leicester Square at lunchtime today will confirm that Khan will make the second defence of his WBA light-welterweight title against Paulie Malignaggi at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, New York, on May 15.

It will be his first bout since signing with Golden Boy, the American promotional company of Oscar De La Hoya, after it tempted him away from Frank Warren, who had promoted him since he turned professional after winning an Olympic silver medal as a 17-year-old. The secret to winning his ear? Talk big.

“They have laid out a plan that over the next 18 months I will be fighting the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Mayweather — big, big names,” Khan, 23, said. “Not just yet, maybe 18 months. But that is what we are aiming for. If they are seeing me with those guys, they must see something in me. Time will tell if they are right.”

The boy from Bolton is becoming a man of the world. He flew back to London last night for today’s press conference after attending the Laureus World Sports Awards here on Wednesday. Then it is on to New York for another press conference before heading to Los Angeles and a nine-week training camp with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card gym. He does not expect to see Lancashire again until late May.

“Boxing in New York is very exciting,” Khan said. “I know with my style of boxing, I can get a fanbase around the world.”

“Paulie Malignaggi has come on a lot since his fight with Ricky Hatton (he lost to Hatton on an eleventh-round stoppage in 2008). He’s coming off a good win over Juan Diaz. I’m ready for it. He’s a big name in New York, but I can start getting fans in America, because the market is massive there compared to England.”

Khan’s decision to leave Warren has come in for some criticism, because the promoter rebuilt his career after a devastating 51-second knockout defeat by Breidis Prescott to winning a world title ten months later.

But when Khan joined Roach and began training in Los Angeles, where Golden Boy are based, the company quickly showed an interest - De La Hoya, the president, and Shane Mosley, a partner, visiting Roach’s Wild Card gym to watch him train and De La Hoya even being there for a send-off prior to Khan’s return to Britain ahead of his last defence against Dmitriy Salita last December.

Khan has got used to being a recognisable face, but he can still get starstruck too.

“Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley came to see me train and it was like ’wow’, I couldn’t believe it, them standing there while I’m on the pads,” he said.

“Before the Salita fight they came to see me off. I was in the gym that morning and they came to see me. My younger brother, Haroon, wanted a picture with Oscar and he came straight away to the gym."

The boxer claims he has nothing bad to say about Warren. “He got me back from my defeat and got me a world-title shot,” Khan said. “My contract finished a long time ago but I stuck with him because he did look after me. Now I’m with Golden Boy, it’s like beginning all over because I want to prove myself all over again.”

Khan still looks back on the defeat by Prescott in June 2008 as a turning point. “I used to do what I wanted to do,” he said. “Everything I do now is about boxing.

“I used to wake up in the morning and the first thing I thought was, ’I want to go to the Olympics, I want to win a medal’. After that, I’d wake up every morning and think ’I want to be a world champion’. Now I wake up every morning and think, I want to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

“Mayweather’s never been beaten. I want to be the first guy to beat him. That’s what I think of.”