By William Mackay: At the LA press conference this week, WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) spoke about his upcoming December 11th fight against World Boxing Association light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana (29-1, 17 KO’s). The two fighters will be meeting up at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to settle which one of them should be the top dog in the WBA.

Incredibly, Khan thinks Maidana has talked his way into a title fight with him instead of earning it, saying “Maidana has been doing a lot of talking and he’s talked his way into a fight now. Unfortunately for him, his mouth isn’t going to help him in the ring and I’m going to prove to him that I’m on another level on December 11.” Khan thinks Maidana talked his way into a title fight with him? The last time I checked, Maidana has been the interim WBA light welterweight champion for almost a year and half since June 2009.

It’s incredible that Maidana has had to wait this long to get a fight against Khan given that he is the interim champion. I don’t know how Khan could see that as Maidana having talked his way into a title fight, as if he wasn’t deserving of the shot. Maidana whipped Victor Ortiz, a hard hitting highly thought of prospect last year. And Maidana recently stopped unbeaten Victor Cayo in the 6th round in March.

Based on those victories, I’d say that Maidana deserves the chance at fighting Khan. Look what Khan did to get a shot at former WBA light welterweight champion Andriy Kotelnik last year. After getting knocked out by lightweight Breidis Prescott in the 1st round in September 2008, Khan followed that up by beating B level fighter Oisin Fagan and then an old Marco Antonio Barrera, who clearly doesn’t belong at lightweight at this point in his long career. Khan was then allowed to fight for the WBA light welterweight title against Kotelnik.

I’d say that Khan was less deserving to challenge for a title then Maidana, wouldn’t you? At least Maidana was fighting at light welterweight and not at lightweight before he got his shot. And he beat a dangerous fighter in his prime to capture the WBA interim title in beating Ortiz. Unlike Khan, who defeated an old Barrera before getting a shot against Kotelnik. I may be wrong, but I think Ortiz is a better fighter than Barrera at this point in his career, perhaps a lot better.

So Khan still thinks that Maidana talked his way into a title fight with him? I think maybe if Maidana hadn’t a raised a fuss, he’d have been ignored permanently by Khan. This would have allowed Khan to continue to fight guys like Dmitri Salita and Paulie Malignaggi up until the WBA finally forced Khan to fight Maidana at the threat of stripping Khan of his title.