By Scott Gilfoid: Promoter Eddie Hearn states that Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) won’t be fighting Adrien Broner in his first fight back on April 21 at the Echol Arena in Liverpool, England. Hearn says he’s given a list of 12 names to Khan and his trainer Virgil Hunter to pick from for his comeback fight.
Hearn has ruled out a fight between Khan and Broner for his first fight of his 3-fight contract with Matchroom Sport. According to Hearn, Broner could be a possibility for Khan’s second fight of his comeback if he’s interested in that fight. Hearn wants Khan to save the big fight for his No.3 fight of his contract with his promotional company. That’s the fight that is expected to be against Kell Brook. It’s the biggest money match that is out there for Khan right now, and Hearn wants to make that fight. He promotes Brook, which makes it easy for him to negotiate the fight.
“We’ve sent him and Virgil [Hunter] a dozen names to look at,” said Hearn about Khan’s next opponent for his April 21 fight. “It appears he wants to have a proper fight. He wants to be in a decent level fight. It’s not Adrien Broner, but that could come in August or September in the 2nd fight. The plan initially is the big one coming in the 3rd fight,” said Hearn.
It’s probably not a good idea for Khan to take on Broner in either of his first 2 fights under his new 3-fight contract with Matchroom Sport. If Khan loses to Broner, which is a very strong possibility, then it’ll be problematic for Hearn to sell the Khan-Brook fight to the British boxing public on Sky Box Office PPV. Khan’s career would need to be rebuilt for a fight with Brook to be a money maker under a situation like.
I don’t think Hearn wants to use up his current 3-fight contract with Khan trying to rebuild his career if he were to lose to Broner. That’s why Hearn is not going to take any risks with Khan until his second fight, and my guess is he’ll try and dissuade him from taking a risky fight then as well. If Khan can win his first 2 fights of his comeback, then he’ll be in good shape for the Brook fight. Hearn can then wash his hands with Khan after he loses to Brook, because his 3-fight contract with him will be over with.
Hearn is being very open about what type of opponents he’s willing to match against Khan in his comeback fight. Hearn is not going to let Khan fight Broner for some reason. Perhaps he sees Broner as being a little too advanced for Khan in making a comeback. It’s hard to say. It wouldn’t be an easy fight for Hearn to try and negotiation because Broner is accustomed to making a lot of money in his fights. For Broner to make the big money against Khan, he might need to take the bigger cut of the revenue. I don’t know if that’s going to work with Khan being the A-side for a Sky Box Office PPV fight.
”2 years is a long time to be out of the ring in boxing,” said Hearn. ”We’ll see on April 21st what Amir Khan has left in the sport of boxing. This is a great business move for all of us. It’s a major coup for Matchroom Boxing in the UK, and in the U.S. It’s a great plan of action for Amir Khan. He’s back to the big fights,” said Hearn.
This might not work out as well as Hearn thinks it will. He doesn’t seem to realize that Khan was a semi-over-the-hill fighter before his last fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez. Khan never made a full comeback from his losses to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia in 2011 and 2012. Khan took a series of tune-ups that extended from 2013 to 2015, fighting Carlos Molina, Luis Collazo, Devon Alexander and Chris Algieri. Khan looked worse with each fight. Hearn now thinks he’s signed one of the best welterweights in the division. Hearn might end up crying big crocodile tears when Khan fails to strike gold for him.
As soon as Hearn puts Khan in with someone a little good for him, he’s going to get knocked out again. That’s been Khan’s pattern. Khan can beat the fringe level guys or the fighters that are shot to pieces career-wise, but when he is matched against someone with power or decent skills, he falls apart. Hearn needs to have his eyes wide open about Khan because he’s going to be deeply upset when he finds out the hard way that he’s not the fighter that he once was. Hearn is treating Khan like he’s a new Ferrari that he wants to take for a spin at 200 mph. What he might not realize that is Khan can’t go at high speeds anymore without throwing a rod and being left on the side of the road. Hearn would be better off taking things slow with Khan and putting him in only winnable fights until he can cash him out against Brook.
It’s unclear who Hearn has on his 12-fighter list for Khan and his trainer Virgil Hunter to pick from for his April 21 fight, but my guess it’s a list of these type of fighters:
– Frankie Gavin – This is my pick for who Khan faces next on April 21.
– Carlos Molina
– Ray Robinson
– Gary Corcoran
– Adrian Granados
– Aaron Herrera
– Saul Corral
– Briedis Prescott – WAY too dangerous for Khan to fight on April 21
– Sam Eggington – too dangerous for Khan
– Paulie Malignaggi – if they can get him to come out of retirement
– Keita Obara
– Renald Garrido
– Bradley Skeete
”He wants to get straight into the deep end,” said Hearn. ”His profile is higher than it’s ever been. It’s big news for Sky Sports Boxing as well. You have to put him in there as one of the biggest names in world boxing. There are options to extend the deal as well,” said Hearn.
Hearn is getting way too excited about signing Khan. He needs to calm down a little and understand that he’s got a guy that hasn’t fought in 2 years. The last time Khan fought a welterweight, he struggled badly to defeat Chris Algieri. That was a very hard fight for Khan. He won but he looked terrible.