Khan will give Mayweather nightmares, says Nelson

By Boxing News - 06/03/2015 - Comments

khan677By Scott Gilfoid: Sky commentator Johnny Nelson doesn’t think Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) will get the fight against unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) this September at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nelson believes that Mayweather will see Khan as too much of a threat to him due to his hand speed and mobility.

It doesn’t matter to Nelson that Khan looked horrible in his last fight against Chris Algieri, and how Khan hasn’t faced a puncher since being starched in 4 rounds by Danny Garcia in 2012.

Nelson still thinks Khan would be too much of a problem for Mayweather for him to get selected for this fight.

“I would be very, very surprised if he ever gets to box Floyd Mayweather,” Nelson told Sky Sports News HQ. “Amir Khan is too good for his own good. He will give Mayweather nightmares and Mayweather will just turn a blind eye and say we actually don’t need this guy.”

Nelson’s comments would mean a heck of a lot more if we didn’t just see Khan getting staggered left and right last Friday in winning a close decision over the non-punching Algieri. Khan showed no defense at all to Algieri’s straight right hands and looping left hooks, which just happen to be Mayweather’s favorite punches in his vast arsenal.

If a fighter like Algieri was able to land clean right hands to the head of Khan throughout their 12 round bout, then the chances are high that Mayweather will do far better. I personally think Mayweather would clown Khan so bad that boxing fans would wind up angry for having spent their hard-earned money purchasing the fight on Showtime PPV. Fans would then give Mayweather grief for choosing such an easy mark instead of him choosing a talented fighter with a chance.

Khan has a lot of unfinished business against Julio Diaz, Marcos Maidana, Breidis Prescott, Lamont Peterson, Algieri and Danny Garcia. Those are all fights that Khan either lost are won by controversial decisions. That’s way too many fights where Khan was exposed, and it’s just not worth it for Mayweather to fight a guy that has been exposed as many times as Khan has been. I don’t care what Nelson is saying. He doesn’t make sense. He needs to sit down with a good cup of coffee and watch Khan’s fights against Julio Diaz, Algieri, Marcos Maidana, Prescott and Danny Garcia before he determines that Khan deserves a fight against Mayweather. Nelson should also look at the last round of Khan’s fight against Zab Judah in which Khan holds Judah with one hand and nails him with a blow for a KO. That was just so sad how that was counted as a knockout because it was so against the rules.

“Khan is too much on his toes, too fast, too young,” Nelson said. “This man [Mayweather] is not an idiot, he’ll choose someone that suits him.”

I don’t agree with Nelson. Mayweather isn’t going to do something dumb like choosing a guy like Khan, who brings no fans in the U.S and wind up with low PPV numbers because of it. The fans that do know of Khan just saw him look dreadful against Algieri last Friday. Now why would fans want to pay to see Mayweather fight an easy mark after watching the Khan-Algieri fight? Heck, Mayweather would be better off facing Algieri because he was far more entertaining than Khan is, and he’s already someone known to Americans after his loss to Manny Pacquiao last year in November.



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