By William Mackay: Floyd Mayweather Jr. 41-0, 25 KO’s) has recently been saying that he won’t bother facing Amir Khan (26-1, 18 KO’s) unless Khan faces unbeaten light welterweight contender Jessie Vargas (16-0, 9 KO’s) first. Up until now, Khan hasn’t been receptive to that idea, saying he had no idea who Vargas was.
Khan also said Vargas should take on Marcos Maidana and beat him before he would fight him. That obviously was the wrong approach to take for Khan in trying to get the Mayweather fight, because Mayweather has repeated his request that Khan face Vargas before he’ll be given the opportunity to fight him. But it’s looking like Khan is finally starting to see the light, because in an interview at Primetime.co.uk, Khan expressed interest in taking that fight.
Here’s what Khan said: “I didn’t really know of Jessie Vargas until Mayweather mentioned him, but if that’s what it takes to get a fight against Mayweather then I wold be up for it. I think I have the style to beat Mayweather, I’m sure he has never faced anyone as quick as me. Freddie Roach has th perfect game plan of how to face someone like Mayweather, who is very defensive and I know I could execute that game plan.”
Vargas has a lot of power and I think this will be a very tough fight for Khan to win, because Vargas fights well on the inside and the outside. He lands a lot of power and he’s not someone you can grab around the head and shove his head down to land shots the way that Khan likes to do sometimes. Khan won’t be able to get away with that against Vargas, because he’ll tag Khan with an uppercut or a big hook if he tries grabbing and pulling down on his head the way he did against Zab Judah. Vargas faces Joseito Lopez on the Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz undercard this Saturday. I’m sure Khan will be watching that fight intently to take notes on Vargas. I just hope Vargas doesn’t look too good, because then I doubt Khan will ever want to fight him. And if he doesn’t fight Vargas, then no Mayweather. That’s how it is.
Khan also thought he had the style to beat Breidis Prescott and we saw what happened to Khan in that fight when he was knocked out in the 1st round. Khan obviously doesn’t fancy his chances in a rematch with Prescott, because he’s never showed even a hint of interest in fighting him again. Let’s be serious about this: Khan stands no chance of beating Mayweather no matter what his trainer Freddie Roach drums into his head. Game plans work up to a point, but when you have a guy like Mayweather, who is so much better than Khan, then it doesn’t matter what game plan Khan comes up with.
Mayweather will adapt on the fly to whatever Khan is doing, and he won’t be able to get new instructions from Roach while he’s getting drilled by Mayweather in the center of the ring. You have to know how to fight and reach to changing situations, and Khan relies too much on Roach to do his thinking for him in the ring. Mayweather is a much better planner than Roach in my view and he’ll react quickly to whatever games that Roach has thought up and punish Khan.
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