Amir Khan wants Floyd Mayweather, but when will it happen?
Bob Velin, USA TODAY Sports 8:39 p.m. EDT May 4, 2014
LAS VEGAS -- Amir Khan knows he's the most logical choice to be Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s next opponent in September.
Khan is 27 and coming off a spectacular three-knockdown victory against Luis Collazo on the undercard of Mayweather's hard-fought majority decision victory against Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
He earned $1.5 million for destroying Collazo and knows that a much bigger payday awaits.
MAYWEATHER: Victory over Maidana upsets fans
The welterweight from Bolton, England, has a huge fan base in Britain, where he says he can't even train anymore because it's too distracting. Everybody wants a piece of the former junior welterweight champion who at age 17 won an Olympic silver medal in Athens.
There's just one thing standing in the way of what would be by far the biggest bout of Khan's career, a mega-fight against the world's No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer, Mayweather.
Ramadan. Khan is a Pakistani Muslim and says he cannot forgo Ramadan for a fight in September. And obviously he cannot fight while fasting.
MGM GRAND: 'Wild scene' breaks out after fight
EARLIER: Khan dominates Collazo
Chances that Mayweather would move his next fight back to October are slim to none. He wants to control when and whom he fights. And he likes to fight in September, around the Mexican Independence weekend. He would never let an opponent dictate when he should fight.
Which means that Khan (29-3, 19 KOs) will likely have to wait another year to fight Mayweather. And anything can happen in that year. Mayweather hinted at retirement during the week leading up to his fight against Maidana, who gave him perhaps the toughest fight of his career.
"Floyd's getting a little older now," said Khan, who's a decade younger. "Floyd looks beatable. A lot of people want the fight now because they want a young lion to come up and see him get beat.
"The only person who has the chance to do that is me."
Khan's promoter, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, said he will try to make Mayweather-Khan happen. Mayweather already rejected Khan in favor of Maidana for this fight.
"I know his dream is to fight Mayweather, and I'm going to try as much as possible to make that happen," Schaefer said.
But now that Khan has finally moved up to 147, "The good news is there are a lot of big fights out there for Amir at 147," Schaefer said.
Asked if he thought Mayweather showed his age against Maidana, who Khan has already defeated, Khan said, "Yeah you could say that, I think he's getting older now, he's showing a lot of mistakes. He's not the same fighter he used to be."
Maidana had his moments, Khan said, and "Floyd looked great as always. (But) I bring speed. I'm quicker than Floyd. I bring explosiveness, and I showed I bring my power to 147.
"If you look at my fights, even the ones I've lost, when it comes to boxing, no one can beat us. Floyd's a master class in boxing, but I've never lost when it comes to boxing. It'll be skills versus skills. And I think the youth will take it."
Youth will likely have to wait, however, as Mayweather shook hands with Maidana's trainer, Robert Garcia, after the fight on a verbal agreement for a rematch in September.
"If the fans want to see it, we'll do it again," Mayweather said of a rematch.
Khan believes he can outperform Maidana.
"I really believe I can do a lot better than Maidana did, no disrespect. Maidana is much slower than me, and he was catching Floyd.
"Imagine what I could do."
Bob Velin, USA TODAY Sports 8:39 p.m. EDT May 4, 2014
Amir Khan celebrates his victory against Luis Collazo following their
fight at MGM Grand.(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports)
Khan is 27 and coming off a spectacular three-knockdown victory against Luis Collazo on the undercard of Mayweather's hard-fought majority decision victory against Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
He earned $1.5 million for destroying Collazo and knows that a much bigger payday awaits.
MAYWEATHER: Victory over Maidana upsets fans
The welterweight from Bolton, England, has a huge fan base in Britain, where he says he can't even train anymore because it's too distracting. Everybody wants a piece of the former junior welterweight champion who at age 17 won an Olympic silver medal in Athens.
There's just one thing standing in the way of what would be by far the biggest bout of Khan's career, a mega-fight against the world's No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer, Mayweather.
Ramadan. Khan is a Pakistani Muslim and says he cannot forgo Ramadan for a fight in September. And obviously he cannot fight while fasting.
MGM GRAND: 'Wild scene' breaks out after fight
EARLIER: Khan dominates Collazo
Chances that Mayweather would move his next fight back to October are slim to none. He wants to control when and whom he fights. And he likes to fight in September, around the Mexican Independence weekend. He would never let an opponent dictate when he should fight.
Which means that Khan (29-3, 19 KOs) will likely have to wait another year to fight Mayweather. And anything can happen in that year. Mayweather hinted at retirement during the week leading up to his fight against Maidana, who gave him perhaps the toughest fight of his career.
"Floyd's getting a little older now," said Khan, who's a decade younger. "Floyd looks beatable. A lot of people want the fight now because they want a young lion to come up and see him get beat.
"The only person who has the chance to do that is me."
Khan's promoter, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, said he will try to make Mayweather-Khan happen. Mayweather already rejected Khan in favor of Maidana for this fight.
"I know his dream is to fight Mayweather, and I'm going to try as much as possible to make that happen," Schaefer said.
But now that Khan has finally moved up to 147, "The good news is there are a lot of big fights out there for Amir at 147," Schaefer said.
Asked if he thought Mayweather showed his age against Maidana, who Khan has already defeated, Khan said, "Yeah you could say that, I think he's getting older now, he's showing a lot of mistakes. He's not the same fighter he used to be."
Maidana had his moments, Khan said, and "Floyd looked great as always. (But) I bring speed. I'm quicker than Floyd. I bring explosiveness, and I showed I bring my power to 147.
"If you look at my fights, even the ones I've lost, when it comes to boxing, no one can beat us. Floyd's a master class in boxing, but I've never lost when it comes to boxing. It'll be skills versus skills. And I think the youth will take it."
Youth will likely have to wait, however, as Mayweather shook hands with Maidana's trainer, Robert Garcia, after the fight on a verbal agreement for a rematch in September.
"If the fans want to see it, we'll do it again," Mayweather said of a rematch.
Khan believes he can outperform Maidana.
"I really believe I can do a lot better than Maidana did, no disrespect. Maidana is much slower than me, and he was catching Floyd.
"Imagine what I could do."
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