De La Hoya likes Khan vs. 40-year-old Mosley or Prescott next in the UK

By Boxing News - 01/04/2012 - Comments

Image: De La Hoya likes Khan vs. 40-year-old Mosley or Prescott next in the UKBy William Mackay: If Oscar De La Hoya had his way he’d like to see former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan fight 40-year-old Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KO’s) next in the UK. De La Hoya also likes the idea of Khan fighting a rematch against Breidis Prescott (24-4, 19 KO’s) also in the UK if the Lamont Peterson rematch doesn’t happen for the 24-year-old Khan.

De La Hoya said this on his twitter page: “One thing about Khan is that he’s willing to fight anyone. He knows what it takes to one day become a legend. What about Amir Khan vs. Mosley from the UK? Amir Khan has proven he can bounce back. I personally like him against Prescott in the UK.”

First of all, the Prescott vs. Khan rematch will never happen. Khan was knocked out brutally in one round by Prescott three years ago and he’s not shown any interest nor has his promoters in putting him back in with that lanky slugger. De La Hoya is clearly dead wrong about Khan being willing to fight anyone. Khan had to be dragged reluctantly into his fight with Marcos Maidana last year. He didn’t volunteer for that fight or go hunting Maidana down like he did against the weak punching Paul McCloskey. Khan never fought Maidana against after almost getting knocked out by him. Khan still hasn’t fought the other dangerous punchers in the light welterweight division like Mike Alvarado, Lucas Matthysse, Ajose Olusegun.

The Khan vs. Mosley fight is more up Khan’s alley. Mosley is totally shot and has lost two out of his last three fights in the past two years. I can see this fight being made in a second in what would be Khan’s first fight at welterweight. It’s a fight that a lot of boxing fans figured Khan would make in his first fight at the new weight, as he said he would go after a big name in his first fight. Given that there are only like five big names in the entire welterweight division with Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Berto, Victor Ortiz and Mosley, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the over the hill Mosley would be the first fight for the fragile-chinned Khan at welterweight.

No way would Khan take risky fights against Ortiz and Berto. Those guys hit hard enough to knock Khan even if they didn’t land with all their force. Khan is trying to get a fight with Mayweather for a big money payday and he and his promoters don’t want any more slip ups like the Prescott and Peterson losses for Khan. He needs an old toothless lion like Mosley to convince the casual boxing public he’s for real and a good choice to fight Mayweather. Never mind the fact that Mosley would likely lost to at least 10 of the top 15 welterweights in the division at this point. The important part is that Khan is seen beating Mosley in front of his adoring fans in the UK and he gets to add Mosley’s scalp to his resume.

It won’t be Khan vs. Prescott in a million years. Look for Mosley to get the fight with Khan. I just hope they don’t try to make this a pay per view bout. That would be a laugh.



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