Mayweather vs. Khan – A Legacy Fight

By sishaq - 02/14/2014 - Comments

mayweather4532By sishaq: By now many hard-core boxing junkies and casual fans are aware Floyd Mayweather Jr. has a May 5 fight date approaching in the desert of Las Vegas, NV. What’s odd is that it’s late February and an opponent has still yet to be named.

Mayweather asked his fans to pick either Amir Khan or Marcos Maidana, and though the latter had the early lead the tide turned when day turned to night in the US and night turned to day in the other parts of the world thus allowing Amir Khan’s fans to make him leapfrog past Maidana and win the popular vote. This is consistent with Khan’s broad international appeal and further evidence the PPV interest has international reach and not just by domestic audiences.

However, Floyd’s uncle recently decided to make like the Electoral College by claiming Floyd should ignore the popular vote and match up with Maidana. This will undoubtedly make all those that voted feel pawned and sway many fans away from the Mayweather brand. Although Khan won the popular vote in a landslide many critics continue to harp on one thing, “he’s done nothing to deserve the fight”. For those critics here are a few things to consider:

(1) Khan is a Olympic medalist and a two-time world belt holder. Clearly, he’s an elite fighter.

(2) Khan has speed, length, agility, footwork, an electric offense and improved defense to match Floyd’s vast arsenal of tools. On the other hand, Maidana is slow, predictable and has little regard for defense. No defense = points on cards!

(3) Khan has beaten Victor Ortiz, the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera, Julio Diaz (who had a split decision with Shawn Porter and gave Khan major props for withstanding his heat), Zab Judah (who Danny Garcia struggled to get past), Pauli Malignaggi (who destroyed Judah), and ready for some irony- Marcos Maidana! Yes, the same Maidana who the critics imply has done more to deserve a fight over Khan, even though Khan KO’d him in round 1 and the only reason it went the distance is because Maidana was literally saved by the bell. The win was a non-controversial unanimous decision, meaning there was zero doubt Khan was the better fighter.

(4) Khan lost to Lamont Peterson but the fact remains Peterson was on steroids giving him a tremendous edge. Then prior to the rematch he was mind numbingly found to have been roided up again. I consider that fight a wash. Garcia did tag him but prior to that Khan was up on all score cards but there’s no defending carelessness. Taking out Peterson’s controversial bout this really gives Khan a record of 2-1 in his last three fights (a better showing than even Pacquiao’s 1-2 record). Maidana on the other hand beat a smaller Broner who likely partied the night before his match. Broner doesn’t exactly strike fear in the heart of many opponents.

(5) May 5 is not a US holiday. Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday therefore a fight on May 5 doesn’t mean it can only be against a Latin fighter or implies a significant loss of PPV buys from Latino audiences if a non-Latino is featured.  Khan is promoted by Oscar’s Golden Boy, Stephen Espinoza’s Showtime and trained by various Latin influences, so he has sufficient business interaction and support of the Latino community. Plus, the international buys will more than compensate for any domestic losses.

(6) Last but certainly not least- Khan is only 27, ten years younger than Floyd and entering his prime in boxing. Floyd will be retiring within the next two years but young guns like Canelo, Khan, Broner, Garcia will carry the torch forward. All of these young guys have a promising future and the stronger their careers are the stronger Floyd’s legacy becomes – should he win against them. Take the NBA for example, Michael Jordan can look back today and say he beat the Birds and Malones but also had success against the up and coming youngsters of his era, like the Kobes and the Iversons. What did that do for him? Who had the highest gross income in the NBA last year simply on brand alone? You guessed it, MJ! Even though he’s been retired for many a years his brand lives on and the paychecks continue to roll in. Ten years from now Floyd may be able to make the claim he slayed the up and comers of boxing who may turn into legends in their own right, thereby making his legacy and brand even greater. Mayweather has only Canelo on his youth list presently. Therefore, fighting older fighters isn’t in the best interest of his personal and financial legacy, unless we’re talking about Manny, which we aren’t until it’s realistically possible, possibly next year.

In summary, Khan is an experienced elite fighter who’s won against legends and some of the world’s best boxers. He has absolutely earned this fight, brings over a million social media fans which speaks to the marketing reach he has from a business standpoint and current boxers believe he has the tools to actually cause an upset. Yes, a fight with Pacquiao is overdue and IMO will likely occur next year. But avoiding Khan not only does a disservice to the popular vote but also weakens FMJ’s legacy! Fights with the up and comers is what it should be about if you’re truly concerned about the longevity of The Money Team legacy, Mr. Mayweather!



Comments are closed.