By William Mackay: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer isn’t interested in putting WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan, one of his youngest stars, in promoter Gary Shaw’s proposed light welterweight tournament involving Devon Alexander, Timothy Bradley, and Marcos Maidana. Instead, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN, Schaefer wants to match Khan up against the Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz winner or Maidana or WBO lightweight interim champion Michael Katsidis.

Schaefer says “That is the direction we want to go. But eventually the fights [with Bradley and Alexander] will happen.” The question is how far into the future is Schaefer talking about? If he wants to match Khan up against lightweights, then when will Khan step up and be put in with Alexander and Bradley? You got to figure that if Golden Boy is going to be dragging lightweights up to the light welterweight division to fight Khan, he’s still going to have to defend his title every once in awhile against his mandatory challengers unless the WBA is going to be making the lightweights Khan’s mandatory challengers each time out.

I think it would be great if Khan is matched up against Maidana, since that’s the fight many boxing fans want to see. It’s a fight that Golden Boy should be able to put together without too many problems because both Maidana and Khan are both promoted by Golden Boy. However, I just don’t see that fight happening next, even if Marquez, who will probably beat Diaz on July 31st, rejects a fight against the much taller Khan. In that case, with Marquez off the table, you can count on the lightweight Katsidis being selected next for Khan rather than Maidana or another dangerous light welterweight like Victor Ortiz.

Matching Khan against the 36-year-old Marquez is a good fight for Khan, because he’s younger, faster and bigger than Marquez. I’m surprised that Golden Boy would want to do this to Marquez, unless that’s the best they can find for him. It seems a little off putting to see a great star like Marquez, who is getting older, being fed to Khan.

I think it wouldn’t look bad if Khan fought for another promoter, because they would be matching their best fighter against the best fighter for the other promoter. But to take a great fighter like Marquez, who is smaller and older, and put him in with Khan just seems a little odd. I wonder if Golden Boy has gauged how Marquez feels about this. If he’s okay with it, then I guess it doesn’t matter. It still seems to me like Marquez is being fed to Khan.

Khan probably doesn’t need to fight in a light welterweight tournament for him to become a really popular. He’s already famous in England, and if the public buys into his fights against lightweights like Marquez, Diaz and Katsidis, then Khan won’t have to take risky fights against the likes of Maidana, Alexander or Bradley. The lightweights would serve the same purpose.