By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan says he’s got options for some big fights if he can’t get either Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao in 2015. Khan specifically sees himself being able to get fights against either Tim Bradley or Juan Manuel Marquez if he doesn’t land one of the big stars in Mayweather and Pacquiao.
Khan doesn’t say whether he actually would take the dangerous step in facing Bradley or Marquez, but rather those guys are possibilities for him if he wanted the fights.
“I’m in a great position where I can go for [Timothy] Bradley or [Juan Manuel] Marquez, so I’m OK,” Khan said via the Gulfnews.com. “But it won’t be the goal for me, I want the big one that will give the crowd the fight they want to see, it’s just a waiting game at the moment so let’s wait and see. Hopefully in the next few days, we should know.”
Last week, Khan announced that he’s giving Mayweather a 5-day deadline to make up his mind whether he will agree to fight him or not. The deadline ends this Friday, so Mayweather is down to his last day to decide whether he’ll fight Khan or not. If Mayweather doesn’t speak up by tomorrow, Khan says he’ll move on and start looking at other options for opponents.
Marquez has a knee injury that is not healing quickly, so Khan can forget about him as an opponent. Heck, even if he Marquez was completely healthy, he wouldn’t waste time fighting Khan, who is belt-less at this time.
Marquez wants to take on big stars or at least fighters with world title belts. Khan hasn’t had a world title since he was whipped by Danny Garcia in 2012. That’s three years of Khan’s career that he’s been without a title.
Khan probably would have won a world title by now if his management didn’t keep him on a soft diet for the last three years in matching him against weak opposition instead of the best. Khan has fought Carlos Molina, Julio Diaz, Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander.
The fighters have something in common in that they’re not huge punchers. Khan’s win over Diaz was a controversial one that took place in the UK. A lot of boxing fans think Khan deserved to lose that fight, but he was given a gift decision. The fact that he couldn’t even conclusively beat an old name like Diaz is obviously disappointing.
Khan’s adviser Al Haymon likely has a name in mind for Khan to fight in his next bout in March or April. I’ve heard the names Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz as the guys that they’re looking at for Khan. One of those guys will very likely be the one. My guess is Ortiz will be the one.
Khan feels like he proved himself worthy of a fight against Mayweather after his last two wins over Collazo and Alexander. The problem is neither of those guys are popular fighters in the United States, so Khan basically got no bounce at all after beating them. Fans didn’t care, because neither of those guys can punch and neither of them are relevant.
Comments are closed.