By John F. McKenna (McJack): It was reported in the Daily Telegraph that WBA, IBF Light Welterweight Champion Amir Khan (26-1, 18 KO’s) has no intention of rushing into a match with Floyd Mayweather Jr (41-0, 25 KO’s).
Interviewed in a Mandalay Bay hotel suite high above the Las Vegas strip, Khan stated:
“People are already asking me about Floyd. I’m not going to call him out.
“It’s a fight I would like to have in the future. Everyone has ambition. It’s like Frankie Gavin and these young fighters in Britain calling me out. I want to fight him in the future not tomorrow.”
“I’m proving I’m in that class now. We are not going to jump into it straight away. We want to build up the fight against someone like Mayweather. And when I fight Mayweather, I don’t want to be a challenger, I want to be on the same level.
“If Manny and Floyd fought they are two champions meeting. I want to be in the same position as that, seen as a top fighter as well.”
Undefeated American Timothy Bradley holds the other two light welterweight belts. Bradley had been expected to fight Khan this July, but negotiations fell through and Amir wound up fighting Zab Judah instead. Khan believes that Bradley does not want to fight him because a loss would end his dream of a big money matchup with either Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Khan was adamant that the punch which knocked out Judah was not low and that Zab was “looking for a way out. “
“Every time he was getting hit you could see the frustration in his face. He just kept giving up, making faces.
“He lost hope in the fight. He needed a way out and he saw his chance and he thought that if he went down, people would not say he was knocked out and that the fight ended controversially.
“He was not hit below the belt. When you hit someone to the body, you know. You can feel when you hit the cup (protector). I didn’t feel the cup.”
Khan admitted that he was star struck when he first fought in Las Vegas last December against the tough Argentinean Marcos Maidana. It was his first fight in Las Vegas and the experience was a little bit overpowering. Now he feels comfortable fighting there.
Amir appeared to be happy to be back with conditioning coach Alex Ariza and acknowledged that you grow with time. He feels that working with Ariza, although a painful process has made him stronger.
Khan also stated that he used some of the same techniques that he worked on with Manny Pacquiao against Judah.
Amir Khan will soon be leaving for a holy pilgrimage to Mecca. He is expected to fight again in December.
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