Amir Khan just cannot seem to get himself a fight. Idle since last May – when he was taken out by the much bigger Canelo Alvarez in a fight that has recently been branded a “foolish” move by Khan’s own trainer, Virgil Hunter – the former 140 pound king has seen both a Manny Pacquiao fight and a Kell Brook fight fail to come off (blame who you want for the latter fight failing to materialise).
Maybe due to his frustrations at not yet being able to test his “new,” surgically repaired right hand, Khan is now even talking about the possibility of fighting Conor McGregor, under either boxing or MMA rules! Speaking with ESNEWS, Khan said he’d “give it a go” if the fight was offered to him.
“I always said I’d give it a go, I’m a fighter who likes to fight and try different things,” Khan said. “I don’t know if I’d be any good at it but I’d give it my all. He [McGregor] wouldn’t know – I’d just hit him – bam-bam-bam-bam – but if he grabbed me I’m done; I’d have to work on that. Nate [Diaz] choked him out and Nate said to me ‘he’s not the best when you get him on the floor,’ so he’s normally a stand up fighter. In boxing I think I beat him quite easily but in MMA I think it might be tough but you just don’t know.”
Most fans, upon reading this article, will no doubt say Khan should be concentrating on boxing, on “proper” fights, instead of even contemplating such a potentially dangerous and embarrassing hybrid fight. Khan had the Brook fight there for the taking (according to Eddie Hearn and Brook himself anyway) but now Khan is reduced to talking about taking a fight that in all likelihood would not be allowed anyway (look at the ongoing, dreadfully tedious saga Floyd Mayweather and McGregor have endured).
Khan, a superb boxer, should stick to what he’s good at. Get a tune-up bout and then target another big fight at welterweight, Amir.