British boxer Amir Khan will face the winner of the upcoming bout between former junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia and Robert Guerrero on Jan. 23 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

The World Boxing Council announced that the Garcia-Guerrero bout will be for the WBC middleweight title, which was vacated by Floyd Mayweather, who announced his retirement in September.

Khan, who has not fought since scoring a unanimous decision win against Chris Algieri in May last year, was named as the mandatory challenger, which means he could face Garcia in a rematch if the Philadelphia native wins against Guerrero.

Garcia, who owns a 31-0 record with 18 knockout victories, scored a fourth-round knockout win against Khan during their junior welterweight title fight in July 2012.

While the WBC ruling could work in favor of Khan, boxing fans and analyst criticized the organization's decision. ESPN analyst Dan Rafael said that he sees no reason why WBC made the Garcia-Guerrero a world title fight. Rafael pointed out that the ruling gave Guerrero a chance to become a world champion despite failing to impress in his recent fights.

"Anyone with remote knowledge of recent results would have to scratch their head with regard to Guerrero getting a title shot when you consider he had his clock cleaned in a one-sided loss to Keith Thurman in March for another organization's welterweight title," Rafael wrote.

Rafael was referring to Guerrero's unanimous decision loss to Thurman, where the Gilroy, California was clearly dominated based on the three judges' scorecards -- 120-117, 118-108 and 118-109. After losing to Thurman, Guerrero won against Aaron Martinez but Rafael said the 32-year-old was lucky to escape with the win.

"He was as lucky as whomever will win the Powerball jackpot when he was given a generous split decision against Aron Martinez in June," Rafael wrote. "But even if you can stomach Guerrero in a world title fight, the WBC clearly is violating its rules since it only ranks Guerrero sixth."

Guerrero, who holds a 33-3-1 record with 18 knockout victories, challenged Floyd Mayweather for the WBC welterweight title in May 2013 but also took a lopsided unanimous decision defeat.

Meanwhile, WBC also ordered a fight between Andre Berto and Lamont Peterson to know the second mandatory challenger. Peterson took a majority decision loss to Danny Garcia in April last year, while Berto absorbed a lopsided defeat against Mayweather in September.