By Gav Duthie: A few writers on boxingnews 24 criticized Amir Khan for continuously calling out Floyd Mayweather Jr at the expense of other potential opponents. It was a high risk high reward strategy, but it turns out Amir has lost the game.
Not only has he lost out on the mega opponents in the last couple of months another eight potential opponents have found alternative ventures. Danny Garcia, Lamont Peterson, Robert Guerrero, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Kell Brook and even Breidis Prescott and Andre Berto.
Desperate
I knew when Amir tweeted calling out Miguel Cotto for a title two divisions above where he has ever fought that he knew he had made a mistake. The entire world wanted Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao but Khan at the center of his own universe couldn’t accept that. What are Amir’s alternatives now and how does he continue his rebuilding as a top level fighter without a big fight on the horizon.
Boxrec top 10
Having a quick glance at the top 10 welterweights on boxrec, Amir #7 is one of four fighters yet to have an opponent. The others are Juan Manuel Marquez #3, Marcos Maidana #5 and Tim Bradley #9. What is the potential of Khan salvaging a top fight with any of these opponents and what if anything else is out there.
Juan Manuel Marquez – I would go as far to say there is 0% chance of this happening. There is only one carrot that Marquez will bite and that is the opportunity to win a world title in 5 weight classes. Marquez would be the first Mexican to achieve this hence Kell Brook would be the only fight that would interest him.
Marcos Maidana – Khan doesn’t even want to rematch fighters who have beaten him never mind those he has defeated. Khan and Maidana had a Twitter battle where Amir said it was an easy win before Maidana reminded him that he hurt him badly. Khan would go nowhere near this fight in my opinion.
Tim Bradley – Tim has been very quiet recently after a disappointing year. I have a feeling he may fight Cotto if this can be sanctioned as a WBC middleweight defense and at a catch weight. Bradley knows he will never fight Mayweather and there is little appetite for a Pacquiao trilogy. Amir Khan of course would be an option but so is moving up to 154 lbs where the likes of Erislandy Lara and Cornelius Bundrage are options to a world title shot.
Alternatives
The only decent name fighters I can see remaining that might be up for the fight are Victor Ortiz and Brandon Rios. Amir and his team need to be working frantically approaching these guys. Rios called out Ortiz after he beat Alvarado so there is a good chance they could fight each other leaving Amir firmly out in the cold. After those two the only other welterweights I can see would be the likes of Diego Chavez or prospects like Sadam Ali or Errol Spence Jnr. For me none of these opponents really has the reputation required for Khan to enhance his career but then that is his own fault.
Best Option
Tim ‘Desert Storm’ Bradley’s wife who is also his manager has confirmed that he will be back in the ring in May or June. This is absolutely the best option for both fighters if they can make it happen. After a loss and a draw Tim needs a big win to repair his reputation. In my opinion Bradley is still the 3rd best welterweight in the division so Khan could do with a win like this before he calls out the likes of Mayweather again.
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