Time for Khan to forget Mayweather – by Jack Hirsch

Boxing mirrors real life situations so it deserves real life advice. Amir Khan sees a future with Floyd Mayweather Jr, wants no one but him, but the pound for pound king has shown no inclination to tie the knot. What should Khan do?

There are other attractive fights out there for Khan, but none that can approach a Mayweather clash either financially or for prestige. Although it is not billed as such it seems that everyone in and around Mayweather’s weight class is staging a mini – tournament for the opportunity to take on the money man and collect the substantial crumbs on the table that are left behind after his duffel bags are filled.

Khan has been in the running for a Mayweather match for some time, but although he might pose a more serious challenge than anyone else in the welterweight division it is not a fight that the public is demanding. Unlike Mayweather, Khan has the baggage of three defeats hanging over him that he has never shown an inclination to avenge. Numerous other fighters have beaten Bredeis Prescott since he blew Khan out in round many years ago, but Amir was dismissive whenever the question of a rematch came up.

Because Prescott has been exposed as no more than an ordinary fighter since defeating Khan, the result has been considered a bit of an aberration. Few would pick Prescott to win a rematch.

Khan’s second loss, to Lamont Peterson was ugly in various ways. For one, Khan looked to be the victim of a bad decision both in the scoring and by an overzealous referee who unjustifiably took a couple of points away. Throw in the fact of Peterson having tested positive and you can see why there would be no demand to have the men go at it again.

What no one besides Khan views as a fluke was his third loss, a fourth round stoppage to Danny Garcia. Since that fight, the unbeaten Garcia has defeated highly credible opposition. Khan for his part has rebounded with five wins in a row. Impressive as Khan’s resurgence has been those victories have not leapfrogged him back ahead of Garcia. True Garcia has struggled a bit in some fights, but then again Khan did not look too impressive in defeating Chris Algieri in his last outing.

Based on merit and nothing else, Garcia deserves a fight with Mayweather more than Khan does. If Amir disputes this he can do something about it by challenging Garcia in what can be labelled an elimination match for the winner to face Mayweather. However to date, Khan has shown no inclination to avenge the Garcia setback.

Garcia is slated to box Paul Malignaggi at The Barclays Center on August 1. No one is giving Malignaggi much of a chance. That is a mistake. The New Yorker has been underestimated before and rose to the occasion to defeat the likes of Juan Diaz and Zab Judah. He was highly competitive in losing reasonably close decisions to Miguel Cotto and Adriene Broner. Of course there were bad nights as well with one – sided losses to Khan, Ricky Hatton, and Shawn Porter.

Mayweather’s blueprint does not include Khan. His next fight will be a gimme against someone like Andre Berto, then a rematch next summer against Manny Pacquiao. After that he might retire. Floyd wants to make the most money by taking the least risk.

IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook desperately wants to box Khan in the UK. The match would be very risky for Khan, which makes it appealing to the public.

There are no bigger fights than against Mayweather, but Khan has attractive options. It is about time that he seriously pursues them.



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