Khan: I will be making a big announcement next week

By Boxing News - 05/15/2016 - Comments

Image: Khan: I will be making a big announcement next weekBy Jeff Aranow: Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) says he has a big announcement to make next week. Whether this involves his boxing career is the important question. Khan was knocked out in the 6th round last week by WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) in an ill-advised venture into the middleweight division.

Khan fought Canelo at a catch-weight of 155lbs, but Canelo looked to have put on at least 20 pounds after rehydrating, which would put his weight at 175. Khan guessed 180 for the fight for Canelo.

Khan said after the fight that he would be moving back down to 147 to resume fighting as a welterweight. He mentioned a list of fighters that he wants to fight topped by Manny Pacquiao and followed by WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia.

“I will be making a very big announcement next week. Stay tuned in. #Boxing,” said Khan on his Twitter.

Danny Garcia seems to be in a holding pattern waiting to see if Floyd Mayweather Jr. will make a comeback to fight him. Mayweather recently got Garcia’s hopes up when he mentioned his name as a possible opponent he would be interested in fighting if he comes back. However, it’s possible that someone may have talked some sense to Mayweather since then because he’s now talking about wanting to fight UFC fighter Conor McGregor in a strictly boxing match.

Mayweather’s not going to get nine figures for fighting McGregor because he’s only known in the UFC world and those fights don’t bring in the same PPV numbers as boxing events. Garcia might still be a potential opponent for Mayweather if he does come back.

Khan does have an advantage in getting a fight against Garcia if Mayweather doesn’t take the fight. Khan and Garcia are both managed by Al Haymon, and it’s a good fight. Khan got a lot of publicity for his fight against Canelo and he didn’t do too badly until the 6th.

Khan doesn’t want to take any easy fights despite getting knocked out by Canelo. That means Garcia could be next for him because he wants a big name. Khan probably won’t take on the winner of the Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter fight because that would be a little too risky for him.

One potential problem for Khan is the weight he’s going to need to take off in order to get back down to the welterweight division. Khan bulked up a lot to make weight for the welterweight division. That weight is going to need to come off for him to make weight at 147 and not end up weight drained in the process.

If Khan has problems making the weight limit for his next welterweight fight, then we’ll likely see it in the ring with him being weak and not able to fight hard. Khan looked tired after four rounds against Canelo. If he drains down to 147, we could see him even worse off.

Khan doesn’t have a lot of options at welterweight because he only seems interested in fighting Garcia. He’s already ruled out a fight against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook. That would be the biggest money fight that Khan can get in that weight class. Pacquiao isn’t going to come back to fight him.