By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) think he’s be ready to face unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. by next year after Khan has faced – and hopefully beaten – Marcos Maidana and the winner of the January 2011 bout between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander. Khan wants to fight Mayweather Jr. when he’s at his best. Mayweather, if he doesn’t fight soon, will be incredibly rusty if he takes a fight with Khan after more than a year off from boxing. Mayweather, thus far, hasn’t fought since May 1st when he defeated Shane Mosley.
Khan told the Manchester Evening News, “Manny [Pacquiao] thinks it [Khan vs. Mayweather] will be a good fight because he’s trained with me, sparred with me; He really thinks I’m good enough to fight Mayweather now. But I think in the next 12 months , when I get even better and with more experience, I think I’ll be in better condition to fight him then. This is a timing game and I want to fight him when I think I’m ready, not when he’s ready and I’m not. I want to fight him when we’re both ready and when I’ve hit my peak. I think in the next 12 months that will be an ideal fight for me. It’s definitely a fight I’d fancy.”
There are just a couple of problems that may prevent Khan from realizing his dream of fighting Mayweather. First of all, Khan stands a good chance of being knocked out by his next opponent Maidana on December 11th. Khan has a weak chin, Maidana hits hard, and Khan has been shielded from big punchers since being knocked out in the 1st round two years ago by Breidis Prescott. If you do the math, it would appear that Khan will be knocked out once again when he faces Maidana. That, you would think, would destroy any chance of Khan facing Mayweather next year.
Secondly, I don’t think Khan can beat Timothy Bradley or Devon Alexander. The winner of that fight would be pure hell for Khan and his weak chin. I can’t see Khan doing anything other than getting knocked out in that fight. And finally, if Khan does get by Maidana and the winner of Alexander-Bradley, I don’t see Mayweather fighting Khan. I can see Mayweather dodging that fight because Khan would then be seen as possibly too good for Mayweather. In the past, Mayweather hasn’t fought guys that were at the top of their game like Pacquiao, Paul Williams, Miguel Cotto, Andre Berto, Shane Mosley and Sergio Martinez. Sure, Mayweather fought Mosley recently, but that was Mosley after more than a year of inactivity and old at 38. I can’t see Mayweather agreeing to fight Khan if the British fighter is looking good.
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