By William Mackay: Ricky Hatton thinks it would be a really bad idea for Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) to be trying to get a fight with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. right about now after Khan was beaten by Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) in his last fight last December.
According to the dailystar.co.uk, Hatton thinks Khan needs to get back in there with Peterson, beat him convincingly, and then get two or three other wins under his belt before he faces Mayweather Jr. next year after Mayweather’s fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Hatton had this to say in an article by Nick Parkinson at the dailystar.co.uk “I think a Mayweather fight would be too soon for Amir. He is just coming off of a defeat and does he really want to fight the number one fighter right now or later this year? I think Amir needs another two or three fights to get himself reestablished and get his confidence back. Then maybe he’ll fight the winner of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight next year.”
Khan recently said in an interview with the BBC that he might take on Mayweather near the end of the year. Khan is looking to get a rematch with Peterson right now, but if that doesn’t happen he will be moving up to welterweight to fight some of the top contenders. However, Khan is also hoping that Peterson gets stripped of his World Boxing Association light welterweight title if he fails to give him a rematch.
Khan wants the title back some reason that’s hard to really understand. He plans on moving up in weight if he can’t get the Peterson fight, yet he wants the WBA title back before he makes his move. It seems rather pointless to me and I wonder if Khan has really thought that one through.
I’m in full agreement with Hatton. I think Khan has no business getting in the ring with a fighter like Mayweather right now. Khan may see his loss to Peterson as being a robbery, but what he needs to be focusing on instead of all the glaring flaws that Peterson was able to reveal in Khan’s game. That’s what Khan should be thinking about instead of how he thinks he lost because of the referee, the scorecards being messed up or the Mystery man helping out the WBA supervisor Michael Welsh.
Khan couldn’t fight on the inside; couldn’t handle the little bit of pressure that Peterson put on him; couldn’t stand his ground without using several fouling techniques over and over again. Khan also had to literally run to escape the pressure and it wasn’t tactical running; it was flat out running and it was shocking to look at given how hyped Khan had been up to that point. Khan is going to have to learn how to fight before he takes on Mayweather because he’s able to fight on the inside and he doesn’t need to foul like Khan for him to do so.
Khan seems to be in some kind of mad rush to get the Mayweather fight, as if his legacy depends on him getting that fight. I think Hatton is 100% correct that Khan needs to wait and improve before he gets to that fight.
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