By James Slater – Amir “King” Khan has already won both the WBA and IBF titles at 140-pounds, and he is now looking at making the move up to welterweight soon because he feels he is “running out of names” to fight at light-welterweight.
Speaking with BBC, the 24-year-old star said he had hopes of facing then WBC champ Tim Bradley in what would have been an important unification clash, but that he is now looking at rumbling with Erik Morales seeing as how “El Terrible” will soon be fighting for Bradley’s vacated strap (vs. Lucas Matthysse on Sept. 17th in Las Vegas). Khan went on to say that a defence against IBF mandatory Lamont Peterson is also a possibility, but that whoever he fights at the end of the year, it will likely be his final 140-pound opponent..
“There may be one or two names left in this division,” he said. “We’ll get this [next] fight out of the way and maybe it might have to be that we move up to 147 because there’s no-one else. The Mayweather fight is something I’m looking at for the future and it would be huge for me.”
In a separate interview with Sky Sports News, Khan said he has hopes of facing “Money” Mayweather inside the huge Wembley Stadium in London in 2012. Khan refereed to Mayweather’s oft-stated desire to have a fight in the U.K because he “loves” the U.K fans. Needles to say, a Mayweather-Khan match-up would have a great shot at filling the massive stadium! And Khan really is of the belief that this huge fight could happen as soon as next summer. A lot must happen before then, however.
Firstly, 34-year-old Floyd must get past the much younger and harder-hitting Victor Ortiz next month (most fans feel he will, but “Vicious” Victor does have at least a puncher’s chance: remember the way Mosley rocked Mayweather last year?). Then, Khan must get past whoever it is he fights in December of this year. Assuming both stars emerge in early 2012 with their records and desire intact, the final obstacle would likely (almost certainly) be the blood testing Mayweather would demand Khan agree to undertake. Would Khan be willing to agree to what his good friend and spar-mate Manny Pacquiao will not?
Khan was recently and justifiably angered by Roger Mayweather’s accusations of his taking illegal stimulants, and Khan – who has never failed any pre or post-fight test – has nothing to hide. But does this mean he will agree to jump through hoops as it were, and agree to do whatever Floyd tells him to do? I for one believe that this issue could well prove to be a huge stumbling block in the way of a Khan challenge of Mayweather.