By Scott Gilfoid: With Floyd Mayweather Jr. showing little interest at the moment in fighting Manny Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach is now talking of a bout between his other champion WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the near future. In an article by Gareth Davies of The Telegraph, Roach says “Amir is a great student. He absorbs, he listens and wants to learn. Amir has picked things up quicker than Manny Pacquiao. A fight between Amir and Mayweather would be a year and half away. Style-wise, it would be a great fight and I would like Amir to fight him one day, but let’s take care of the guys at 140 first.”
Is Roach kidding? I think it would be a crummy fight. Oh yeah, it would be great be great if you wanted to see a huge mismatch with Mayweather beating the stuffing out of Khan, but lousy if you were looking for a competitive fight. It would give Khan a huge payday, to be sure, but I don’t think he would be deserving of it unless the dude starts fighting some guys with a pulse. Style-wise, it would be probably be a horrible fight to watch. Mayweather would open up with some right hands in the 1st round and Khan’s chin would probably break into a million pieces. It doesn’t matter that Mayweather isn’t a huge puncher.
I still see him flattening Khan in one round. I see Khan as a light welterweight version of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and John Duddy. I think his record is inflated and doesn’t have any real wins yet. And if Khan beats Malignaggi on Saturday night, I still think he wouldn’t have any significant wins. In a year and half, I see Khan having been knocked out by Timothy Bradley, Marcos Maidana and Devon Alexander. There wouldn’t be any need for a fight between Khan and Mayweather. The only way I see Khan fighting Mayweather is if Khan is steered around those guys, and I can see that happening.
My guess is Khan will fight Kevin Mitchell next, and then probably Breidis Prescott, the dude that knocked Khan out in one round in 2008. After that, Roach and Golden Boy Promotions will likely push hard to make a Khan-Mayweather. With fluff wins over Mitchell and Prescott, I predict Khan will be deemed ready to take on Mayweather. Of course, Khan won’t be, but a certain segment of the boxing world will give Khan a chance.
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