Maidana seeks purse bid, says Khan will relinquish title before ever facing him
In the latest chapter between WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and WBA interim titlist Marcos Maidana, Maidana and his camp have released a statement on boxingscene.com criticizing Khan and stating they have demanded a purse bid from the WBA due to failed negotiations with Khan.
Khan and Maidana have been trying to hammer down a contract for an upcoming fight but talks have been nullified by a clutter of accusations that are becoming increasingly personal. Khan maintains that Maidana is ‘overpricing’ himself for the fight, or asking for too large an amount of the purse. Maidana disagrees and contends Khan is systematically avoiding him because he is scared.
Maidana’s statement, attributed to “Team Maidana,” begun: “After the ridiculous demands of Amir Khan, everyone is frustrated. We have made efforts to reach an agreement, and are especially tired of all the lies that Khan himself and his team have told the media and boxing fans. On Wednesday night Maidana Marcos asked the World Boxing Association (WBA) for the immediate creation of a purse bid for the expected fight [on December 11].
Maidana then appeared to voice the statement, saying: “I'm tired of this Twitter star. He is a great coward and a liar. He said I asked for too much money, which is false. If that is really your problem, I challenge you [Khan] to let us fight and the winner takes all the money. I do not think that the problem of Khan has to do with the money. The final absurdity is saying is that I am not his mandatory challenger. Lawyers are now looking for ways to prevent Khan from facing me.”
At this point both sides have seemingly told contradictory accounts of events, and it is difficult to gauge who is being false. It is quite possible that both are merely discontent with each other’s presented expectations. Khan could see Maidana’s purse figure as too high, whereas the same figure isn’t ‘overpriced’ from Maidana’s perspective.
It seems unreasonable for Maidana to challenge Khan to a match the winner of which takes all, since the idea of a titlist and his camp earning nothing for a title fight makes no business sense whatsoever and would therefore never happen in professional boxing.
As well, it isn’t clear that Khan ever said Maidana was not his mandatory challenger. As interim champion, Maidana is de facto first in line. Khan did say that he didn’t have to fight Maidana for some months and therefore might take another bout in the meantime if negotiations do not work out.
Maidana continued: “I asked my staff to proceed with the request to the WBA for a purse bid. Once the purse bid is done, the fight will be done. Then we will see who is lying. And we will see, once and for all who wants to fight and who doesn't. Believe me, Khan will relinquish his title before he ever faces me.”
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