Khan: I’d Have Boxed Him At His Own Game
It’s no secret how badly Amir Khan wanted a massive fight with Floyd Mayweather (Khan has perhaps not given up complete hope of getting the fight even now), with Khan campaigning for the fight, calling for the fight over a number of years. Khan critics swiftly dismiss Khan’s belief that he would have tested Mayweather hard, these critics saying Khan would never have had a chance against the man who calls himself “T.B.E.”
Others, though, feel Khan, with his incredibly fast hands, would have given Floyd plenty to think about in a fight. Khan recently spoke with Sky Sports, talking about how he would have fought Mayweather; or to be more accurate, how he would have boxed Mayweather.
“Mayweather is a funny character. He’s one of those type of guys who wants to pick who he fights and be the boss and be the main headline,” Khan said. “But when I met him face to face he was a different guy. He said hi to me and my wife and we took pictures. He did say; ‘Amir, I need a dancing partner.’ I said, ‘Yo, Floyd, it’s me who’s waiting on you.’ Every fight we have a game-plan. For that fight it would have been hit and move. It would have been a game of chess. Mayweather is hit and move so I’d have boxed him at his own game. That’s the way to beat him. Fighters who put the pressure on him get caught. I would have boxed him at his own game.”
At the very least, a Mayweather blow-out win aside (and this could have happened, even if Floyd is no big puncher) a Mayweather-Khan fight would have been interesting. Speed Vs. Speed. Remember, Mayweather had some trouble with the hand speed of Zab Judah until coming on later in the fight. Who knows, maybe Khan, if he could have kept his chin out of the way, would have been able to pick up points against “Money.”
Khan doesn’t today say he is certain he would have beaten Mayweather, but he is certain he would have given his all in trying to do so.
“A good boxer is the one that would have beat Mayweather,” Khan said. “I don’t know if I would have beaten him but I would have given it a hell of a try. As a fighter I have always had confidence in myself.”
If Khan had got the fight and had managed to pull off the upset win, it would very likely have topped the legendary win Randy Turpin pulled off over the great Sugar Ray Robinson in terms of greatest win ever scored by a British boxer. In the minds of some people, at least. Instead of fighting Khan, Mayweather picked Marcos Maidana in 2014. This despite the fact that the winner in terms of votes on the poll Floyd put up asking who he should fight next, was in fact Khan.