By William Mackay: With only 23 fights as a pro, WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) believes that he’ll be ready to fight both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao by next year. This is kind of amazing, given that Khan was knocked out in the 1st round by Breidis Prescott in 2008, and has been carefully brought along since that time, facing fighters like Oisin Fagan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Andriy Kotelnik and Dmitri Salita. All good fighters, to be sure, but not exactly the type of opposition that would make you think that Khan will be ready to face fighters like Pacquiao and Mayweather.

In an article at the Sun, Khan says “In 12 months from now, I will be ready for Manny and Floyd Mayweather Jr. I know them both well and they both want to fight.” I bet he does, but I don’t it would be a very good idea, since Khan has little experience, is totally unknown in the U.S. and hasn’t shown anything that would lead me to believe that he would do anything other than get knocked out by both Mayweather and Pacquiao. Mayweather isn’t a huge puncher, but I think if he were to connect with Khan’s chin the way that he was blasting away at Shane Mosley last Saturday night, Khan would probably be finished in a round or two.

I see Pacquiao also stopping Khan in one or two rounds, depending whether he’s going easy on him or not. I like Khan’s ambition and think its great, but I can’t see the public being remotely interested in seeing Khan matched against either Mayweather or Pacquiao now or a year from now. A win over Paulie Malignaggi won’t change much, because Malignaggi has no power whatsoever and has already been beaten recently by Ricky Hatton and Juan Diaz.

It’s going to take more than wins over Kotelnik, Salita and Malignaggi to interest the American public in a Khan-Mayweather or Khan-Pacquiao fight. Khan is going to have to fight someone like Marcos Maidana, Devon Alexander or Timothy Bradley for him to catch the attention of the American fans. Even then, Khan will need at least another big win over one of those guys to get fans interested in seeing Mayweather and Pacquiao fight him.

A win over the weak-punching Malignaggi will hardly get anyone excited, I hate to say. Malignaggi isn’t a huge star in the U.S. and is only known somewhat on the East Coast. Sure, hardcore boxing fans know who Malignaggi is, but the casual boxing fan don’t have clue on who he is. So, it’s going to take some solid wins over Bradley, Alexander or Maidana for Khan to get the attention of U.S. fans for them to want to waste their money in seeing Khan matched against Mayweather and Pacquiao. The problem is Khan would likely have huge problems against Maidana, Bradley and Alexander, and probably to all three of them.

That would pretty much end Khan’s dream of fighting Mayweather and Pacquiao, you would guess. Who knows? Maybe Pacquiao, a friend of Khan’s, might show interest in fighting him anyway in a stay busy fight, but it probably wouldn’t be pretty. I just don’t see Khan anywhere close to being in the same league as Pacquiao and I think it would make for a terrible fight if you’re into competitive matches. If you like to watch a slaughter, then I think a Khan-Pacquiao fight would be right up your alley.

Khan says “This game’s all about timing. You have to know the best time to have these fights. I want to catch these guys when they have come off their peak.” I respect Khan’s honesty, but that’s not exactly inspiring that Khan wants to fight them while slipping. Isn’t he supposed to want to fight them while they’re in their prime and not over-the-hill? Heck, Khan already fought a fighter who was well past his peak in 36-year-old Barrera. What good is getting a win over someone that is getting old?

Anyway, Mayweather and Pacquiao won’t be coming off their peak a year from now, so I have no idea what Khan is blathering about. And I don’t see Khan fighting those guys, because I see Khan getting beaten up if he steps it up against Bradley, Maidana and Alexander in his fight after the Malignaggi fight. I have a feeling, though, that Khan won’t be facing any of those guys next or a year from now. That way Khan will still be winning and will be in the position to fight Mayweather and Pacquiao. But I just can’t see how or why they would want to fight Khan if he’s not had any credible wins under his belt against top world class fighters.