Amir Khan v Floyd Mayweather?
Amir Khan is a man with the world at his feet. Life must seem pretty sweet for the Bolton youngster who has enjoyed non-stop boxing success from an Olympic silver medal as a 17-year old, to his current rein as WBA light-welterweight champion, allbeit with a minor blip against Breidis Prescott somewhere in between.
Khan’s career has followed a well thought-out path which has matched his obvious talents with good management, strategic plans and an excellent public image. Now at 23 years of age, with his apprenticeship in the sport all but served, thoughts have to turn towards the big pay-days. One possible opponent for the future being bandied about in some sections is a certain Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
This fight would work on a number of levels. The British public would be all over it, like they were when Ricky Hatton stepped into the ring with Mayweather. Without question Mayweather v Khan would be a super-fight by UK standards as boxing enjoys a rude health in Blighty and PPV sales would go through the roof.
Also “Money” has recently said himself that he enjoys the UK and would love to have a fight there and with the sport’s popularity dwindling a bit in America and Golden Boy Promotions increasing their British profile, the geographic logistics of this fight would make sense in terms of audience.
The same could be said on a religious basis as Khan has a huge Muslim following making him as much an international star as he is a national hero, so the worldwide rights to this fight have the potential to be huge.
With big-draw bouts at a premium these days, Golden Boy Promotions would see this as a great money making scheme as they are in for the long haul with Khan and will be hopping to make some serious coin out of him in the future. In fact it would come as no surprise to discover that they already have a folder in their filling cabinet dedicated to the prospect of this fight.
In recent weeks Mayweather has talked of taking some time off from the sport, which we have seen him do before. Say he follows through on this and takes the next two years off and in the meantime Khan raises the quality of his opposition to the other big guns of his weight class such as Timothy Bradley Jnr and Marcos Maidana and wins, then he will be the one to beat in boxing when Mayweather returns. Obviously this is a big ‘if’ and entirely dependent on Khan defeating the best in a very strong division, but say he did, he would be the obvious name for Mayweather’s comeback fight.
With Manny Pacquiao leaving behind a world of bureaucracy, under-handness and scandal for a career in politics, a successor needs to be named and “King Khan” is clearly being groomed for the job. Freddie Roach rates him as highly as the Filipino, with his fast fists and mesmerising mobility it’s easy to draw comparisons. There are differences though, Khan doesn’t quite have the toughness of “Pacman” and had a very different route up the ladder, but with plenty of work at Roach’s Wild Card gym, the end result could be similar.
Roach made Pacquiao a more rounded fighter and he has improved Khan as well, most noticeably defensively, an area that Khan’s critics are always quick to highlight. Whenever you do anything in life it’s always easier second time round and so what Roach learned with Pacquiao will be easier to apply to the Lancashire lad.
Also with the Pacquiao-Mayweather “will they, won’t they?” still raging on, the possibility of it falling apart are still better than average. If it wasn’t to happen Mayweather will be plagued by it for the rest of his career. It might drive him so insane that the only option would be to fight mini-Pacquiao as a way of proving himself able to beat a Roach-trained speedster. Not that that sort of thing ever bothered Mayweather that much, but every boxer wants a legacy they can be proud of and being haunted by not competing in the biggest fight of his career could lead the Grand Rapids-born former multi-weight champion down Khan’s path.
Of course this is all entirely theory. Should Mayweather fight Pacquiao then he would make so much money he will probably never need or want to fight again. If he wins as well there would be no reason for him to fight Khan as he would have nothing left to prove.
Also Khan is not ready yet. He needs some bigger fights before taking on a divisional-juggernaut like Mayweather. His primary goal should be to come through the likes of Bradley, Maidana and Victor Ortiz to prove himself the best of an exciting young bunch of fighters, and maybe throw in someone like Juan Manuel Marquez or Sergio Martinez so he can get an in ring education by a top class wily old pro.
Right now Khan is still that sensational bundle of potential, but as Prescott showed he does have weaknesses and is not yet the finished article. He will take heart from Pacquiao’s early career losses though as he bounced back to become the pound-for-pound king.
In truth by the time Khan is ready for Mayweather, Money will probably be sat on a beach somewhere counting stacks and stacks of cash and telling himself that he is “the man”. Also Khan who has taken his whole career one-step-at-a-time will recognise he has a long way to go yet before he gets in the ring with Mayweather and they won’t even be on each other’s radars right now.
The coronation may have been a touch premature for King Khan who still has dues to pay before stepping in with Money.
Still, Khan v Mayweather O2 Arena 2015, don’t rule it out.
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