Khan: I’ve got Mayweather cornered, he has nowhere else to go

By Boxing News - 12/18/2014 - Comments

khan67000By Allan Fox: Amir Khan believes that Floyd Mayweather Jr is in a position where he has no one else to fight but himself for his next fight in early 2015. Khan didn’t come right out and say it, but it doesn’t look like Mayweather will be getting the fight he wanted against Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd. If that fight fails to happen then Khan believes Mayweather has no other choice but to face him.

Khan thinks Mayweather’s recent excuse about “No one knows who Amir Khan is,” is Mayweather showing that he’s afraid to fight him. Khan thinks that Mayweather’s fear comes from the hand speed and the boxing talent that Khan possesses.

“I think we’ve got him cornered in a way because after that good performance against Devon Alexander I don’t think he has anywhere to go,” Khan said to Skysports.com. “Who’s he going to fight next? I think out there in the boxing world there’s only myself left. I think Floyd is running scared now. He’s looking for any excuse not to get the fight.”

Mayweather believes that Khan doesn’t have wide name recognition in the United States among the casual boxing fans, and he’s perhaps right about that. Khan isn’t that well-known to casual fans that have scant knowledge of the sport. Mayweather also was disappointed in the ticket sales for the Khan vs. Devon Alexander fight from last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Just who Mayweather will fight next if he doesn’t face Pacquiao or Khan is an unknown now. However, with Mayweather’s popularity, he would have a good chance of luring the likes of Kell Brook and Danny Garcia into the ring to face him.

Brook is no more popular than Khan is in the U.S, but he has the IBF welterweight title in his possession and that would give Mayweather the opportunity to win another major world title. A fight against the unbeaten Danny Garcia would be a huge event in the U.S and likely a bigger fight than a Mayweather-Khan fight.

It’s doubtful that Mayweather is afraid to fight Khan. It’s more likely that Mayweather is afraid of seeing his pay-per-view numbers dip further because there’s no real demand for a Mayweather-Khan fight in the U.S. That fight obviously is something that Khan’s British fans would love to see, but it’s not the fight that the American boxing public is calling for.

“He’s always coming up with excuses – his new excuse is ‘Amir’s not a big enough name’ – is he going to take the fight or not? Khan said.

I don’t think Mayweather is going to take the fight. He said pretty much that the other night in an interview. Khan is going to need to understand this that he’s probably not in the Mayweather sweepstakes for his next fight.

It’s got to be a big disappointment for Khan because he’s been waiting on a fight with Mayweather all these years, and now it looks like Mayweather has permanently closed the door on him. Khan can’t fight Mayweather in September due to Ramadan, and this is perhaps the last year of Mayweather’s career. If he does return for 2016, it’ll likely be for just one or two fights against proven sellers.



Comments are closed.