London, England — July 31, 2007 – Jon Thaxton believes he has found a novel way to cut through boxing politics and secure a marquee showdown against Olympic Silver Medalist Amir Khan. With the assistance of his promoter Hennessy Sports, the British Lightweight champion has secured backing from Internet Casino giant GoldenPalace.com that would allow him to fight his Commonwealth counterpart without the need for a purse from the event promoter..
The Norwich hero hopes the offer will tempt team Khan to accept an old school, double title showdown for their next fight, currently scheduled for October 6th at the Nottingham Arena.
“Amir’s promoter doesn’t have to pay me a single penny,” said Thaxton. “GoldenPalace.com will put up my purse, with no strings attached.
‘Mick Hennessy wants to make the big fights, so he is more than happy for me to appear on somebody else’s show as long as I am getting treated fairly.
“My broadcaster Sky Sports has been very supportive as well. They have shown their commitment to boxing once again by agreeing to me appearing on another broadcaster’s event if this fight happens. I am sure ITV want to show Khan in the best possible fights for their viewers.
“Both Khan and I have titles so there is no need for anyone to talk about options, so all round this is the perfect solution.
‘Unless Khan doesn’t want it, there is absolutely no reason this fight cannot happen. I’m ready for that date but I need to know if they are up for it now, I don’t want anyone springing an offer on me with two weeks to go.
“I have earned the right to call myself the best lightweight in Britain. If he wants to take it off me, he won’t get a better chance.
“Now he is Commonwealth champion he needs to step up to the plate rather than going back to easier fights. He has been talking about being a world champion by the time he’s 21. Surely if he’s on schedule for that then he should be prepared to step in with the current British champion?
“I have been reading headlines that he is keen to fight me. Well here I am. Look no further, I’m here, ready to go.
“I believe he has shown a lot of disrespect to me and other fighters in Britain by saying we have to fight him before its too late. How can he say that when challenges are put in front of him, and then he doesn’t take them up? It’s beyond belief.
“I’m just saying it how it is. We all saw Willie Limond show that he can be vulnerable.
“Limond was not known as a puncher but was well in the fight and knocked Amir down in the sixth.
“Amir did well to get up and stop Limond two rounds later, but if I got the chance to hit him, he would stay hit and not get up.”
GoldenPalace.com is renowned for their highly valued support of boxing. They have got behind the careers of ring legend Bernard Hopkins, WBC Light Welter Champ Junior Witter and stand out talent Carl Froch, the fast rising WBC #1 and British super middleweight king.
This proposal is the most recent extension of their long term support for Hennessy Sports.
“After following the career of Thaxton and Khan, we decided to intervene and attempt to hurry up the process for what we all feel would be a spectacular bout between two champions,” said Richard Rowe, CEO of Goldenpalace.com.
Hennessy Sports head Mick Hennessy is equally as keen to see the showdown.
“Politics and money can prevent big fights from happening in Britain, but we are willing to take those out of the equation to try and make Jon Thaxton versus Amir Khan happen on October 6,” he said.