Schaefer: Khan could face Devon Alexander in December

By Jeff Sorby - 05/18/2013 - Comments

khan4532If IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander can get past challenger Lee Purdy tonight in their fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey, he’ll likely be facing former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan in December, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.

Rafael said on his twitter “Richard Schaefer saying at ringside that when Amir Khan returns in December it could be for a shot at Devon Alexander.”

If Khan is successful in that fight then the next move that Schaefer will do is look to put Khan in with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in early 2014. What could change those plans is if Mayweather is beaten in his September fight against a still to be determined opponent. There’s not much chance that Mayweather will lose that fight unless he fights the 172 pound WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

If Mayweather takes that fight in September then it’s definitely possible Mayweather will lose due to Canelo’s huge size advantage. Mayweather would then likely fight Canelo again in early 2014. As for Khan, he would have to wait until the rematch is over with before he gets a shot against Mayweather.

Alexander could have a tough fight on his hands tonight against Purdy, and hopefully he’s not overlooking him. Other than Marcos Maidana, Alexander hasn’t really dominated one of his opponents since his 8th round stoppage win over Juan Urango three years ago in 2010.

Following that fight, Alexander struggled in beating Andriy Kotelnik, then suffered a loss to Tim Bradley, won a controversial 10 round decision over Lucas Matthysse, easily beat Maidana, and then labored to a 12 round decision over Randall Bailey last October.

If Purdy can fight hard he could possibly keep it close enough to where he might pull out a decision just based on aggression. That’s the way to beat Alexander, and Purdy has the tools to win if he can turn the fight into a dogfight like Bradley did in his win over Alexander.

Alexander will be a very tough fight for Khan because he can punch a little bit, and Khan’s chin doesn’t seem to be all that good right now. He was hurt continuously in his last fight against Julio Diaz, and Alexander is a better puncher than Diaz.