After his labored victory over light-hitting Chris Algieri recently, and with welterweight rivals Kell Brook and Keith Thurman questioning his suitability for the Floyd Mayweather Sep 12th slot – Amir Khan may finally have realized his credibility has taken a damaging hit and that he is NOT going to be the man in the opposite corner for Floyd’s 49th pro outing.
But fear not.
Speaking in ‘The National’ ,Khan has realised the next biggest money fight for him may be against former Wild Card stablemate Manny Pacquiao – and while seemingly attempting to dismiss speculation from Bob Arum that the fight could take place in Dubai – and continuing to assert it is Mayweather he wants – he seemingly concedes he will take 2nd prize and fight the Filipino star if needs be.
He said;
“It’s all rumours and speculation. I’ve not spoken to Manny about a fight in Dubai and nor have our camps, so it’s untrue. Look, if Manny wants to fight, we can do it. I’ve offered him and his team in the past but they turned us down.”
“If Manny mans up and wants to take the fight then it will happen but the only fight I am interested in right now is Floyd Mayweather.”
“Everywhere I go people ask me the same question – when are you fighting Floyd? I was at the Boxing Hall of Fame the other week and everyone kept asking me the same question.”
Khan then appears to again try and goad Mayweather into the fight – not that it’s worked until now. Asserting his belief that Floyd doesn’t want any part of him. He said;
“There is nothing from his camp. Floyd is clearly avoiding me. That’s the fight I want. I’ve proved myself in the welterweight division, so I don’t know what more I can do.”
Perhaps forgetting he just insisted he would fight Pacquiao himself, Khan said of Floyd choosing him for May 2nd;
“He fought Pacquiao now when he’s over the hill. If he had fought him 5 years ago, Manny would have beaten him. I’m hearing he wants an easy fight for his 49th and final fight. I hear he has been mentioning names like Andre Berto and Karim Mayfield.”
“Why not take the fight with me, if it’s that easy?”
Will the better part of 2 1/2 years of chasing a Floyd fight come to nothing for Amir Khan?
The saga continues.
Twitter @Undilutedpoison