Mayweather expected to announce his May 3rd opponent by next week

By Chris Williams: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) is expected to announce his next opponent as early as next week, according to ESPN. It’s expected to be Amir Khan, because WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana is now tied down to a rematch with Adrien Broner by virtue of him invoking his rematch clause in their contract. WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia isn’t in the running for the fight, and he was the only other option that would make sense for Mayweather.

“It’s really Khan or nothing at this point,” Says Brian Campbell of ESPN.

Campbell points out that Maidana has been taken off the table due to the Broner rematch, and that Manny Pacquiao isn’t a viable option because of Mayweather not wanting to do business with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum.

The Choice of Khan is obviously going to be a controversial one for hardcore boxing fans. These are the fans that know about Khan’s recent struggles in the rig, and they’re offended by the thought of having to pay as much as $70 to see Mayweather fight an opponent who has won only 2 of his last 4 fights. But Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions will be counting on the casual boxing fans not knowing anything about Khan’s recent struggles.

If Golden Boy and Showtime/CBS can market the fight hard enough then casual fans will know only of Khan what they see on the Showtime All Access episodes. At that point it’s not about what Khan has done in the past. It’ll be about his personality in selling the fight, because the All Access episodes are like reality television.

If Khan can come across as interesting and likeable then fans will purchase the fight based on that. It’s Ducky Dynasty type of syndrome where Khan can win over fans on his personality alone. The All Access episodes just need to make sure they avoid showing video of Khan’s losses to Lamont Peterson, Breidis Prescott and Danny Garcia, and his near losses to Marcos Maidana and Julio Diaz. If they’re going to sell Khan as a viable option for Mayweather then Khan’s past history needs to be skipped over except for the good parts where he’s seen beating guys like Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi.