By Dan Ambrose: Despite looking terrible in the last three rounds of Amir Khan’s close 12 round unanimous decision win over Marcos Maidana last Saturday night, Khan’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya has already proclaimed Khan as the best fighter in the light welterweight division even though Khan still hasn’t fought the winner of the Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander bout.

De La Hoya says that Khan can take that fight or move up to welterweight to go after Floyd Mayweather Jr. next. It’s hard to agree with De La Hoya that Khan is the best fighter in the light welterweight division if he scampers away without fighting Bradley or Alexander. After all, Khan was in real trouble in rounds 10, 11 and 12 against Maidana, and that wasn’t the kind of performance that you’re looking for from a fighter if you’re wanting to see him as the best in the division.

In an article at pressandjournal.co.uk, De La Hoya said “Amir Khan proved not only he has a good chin but he’s the best 140-pounder in the world, no doubt about it. Fight of the decade. If there are any doubters, come talk to me. Until the last second Maidana was throwing bombs. Yes, Amir Khan did get hit by a truck in the 10th round, but he’s still going. He’s still going to that destination. You have to give Amir a good rest after a fightn like this, but he wants to fight the very best. He can still fight at 140, clear up the division or he can go to 147 and fight the very best there. You have Mayweather who wants to fight. Amir wants tof gith Mayweather.”

It would be a way too early for Khan to fight put in with Mayweather at this point if Khan hasn’t even proven that he’s the best fighter in the light welterweight division. Ideally, Khan needs to fight Maidana again in a rematch with a different referee, because the referee Joe Cortez seemed to get in the way of the action when Maidana was trying to work on the inside at times. However, it’s incredibly doubtful that Khan will ever fight Maidana any time soon. I can see this fight happening in the future once Khan starts getting beaten by fighters over and over again. At that point, Maidana will be an option if only because there will be less available for Khan once his chin gets worse and he starts getting beaten on a routine basis. But don’t expect that to happen soon.