Amir Khan insists he is focused on the job in hand ahead of his WBA light-welterweight title defence against Dmitriy Salita.

Speculation has been rife since Khan won the belt from Andreas Kotelnik in July, with Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton and even Manny Pacquiao touted as potential future opponents.

Such talk has threatened to overshadow the build-up to Khan's first fight since that victory, which pits him against mandatory challenger Salita in Newcastle this weekend.

Khan has refused to rule any names out from his hit-list, but the 22-year-old is adamant that for the time being, he is not thinking beyond Saturday's showdown.

"My total focus is on Salita," Khan told Press Association Sport.

"People have been mentioning other names to me, asking 'what do you think of this guy?'

"But the thing I say to them is I've got a guy in front of me who wants to beat me and I need to win that fight.

"If I lose the fight there will be no point in talking about other fights. I need to beat this guy first and then sit down with my team and see where we go from there."

There will certainly be no room for complacency against Ukrainian-born New Yorker Salita, who is undefeated with 16 knockouts from 30 victories, but Khan is determined he will not go down in history as a one-fight champion.

"Physically I'm fit, strong and getting towards my peak, and mentally I'm prepared for this fight," Khan said.

"It's a big fight for me, defending my WBA title. It's my first defence and it is true what people say - it's tougher to keep hold of a title than win it.

"I don't want to be one of those fighters who wins it in one fight and loses in the second fight. I want to keep hold of my title.

"It will be a tough fight and a good fight for the fans because they have not had a big boxing show there for a long time.

"But I'm ready for it - I feel nice and sharp and I know I can take this guy out."

If Khan can cap a superb 2009 with victory on Saturday, the United States beckon in 2010, with the Bolton fighter hoping to join the pantheon of British boxers who have made a splash in America.

"This fight will be one of the last ones in the UK, definitely," Khan said.

"I want to fight in the US and I think everyone respects my decision.

"Boxing is huge down there and I want to do what Ricky Hatton did down there, what Joe Calzaghe did, Naseem Hamed.

"I want to go down there and show that there is another champion from Britain coming along. Hopefully next year - that is what we want to do.

"This could be one of my last fights in Britain so I want my fans to be able to make the most of it."