by James Le Blanc: This is an unprecedented topic. I can’t think of a time when a boxer stalled his own career for an entire year to fight one particular foe. Amir Khan has been pointing the finger a lot lately, from the person that advised him to back out of the Devon Alexander fight in December to Floyd Mayweather for taking his precious time in picking an opponent and then ultimately going in a different direction than Khan.
I have never seen a boxer desperately campaign for a fight the way Khan did the last few months. I have never seen a boxer make every wrong decision possible when it comes to getting a mega fight with Floyd Mayweather. Khan backed out of a fight with IBF Welterweight titlist Devon Alexander in December, during a time when a handful of other welterweights were fighting.
It was an unofficial audition and Khan skipped on his appointment. Then Khan let the public know that he signed his part of an agreement to fight Mayweather in December. Who discusses pending negotiations? Who announces an un-finalized contract between one party?
Then the Poll happened. I personally think the poll made little sense but it was a method Mayweather used to gauge his audience. This poll sent Khan into a frenzy where he took to social media to urge his fans to vote in favor of him. He then felt the need to defend his position as the front runner to fight Mayweather citing his speed and ability. He cited his fight against Maidana a couple of years ago at the Junior Welterweight limit in which Khan edged the victory. But it was all in vain, because none of us could forget his knockout loss to Danny Garcia. Before the Garcia fight Khan had lost a controversial decision to Lamont Peterson. After the Garcia loss Khan switched trainers and began to rebuild his career by facing journeymen and even then Khan did not look impressive. His last fight was a life and death battle against Julio Diaz in April of 2013; nearly a full year ago. Khan has never fought at the welterweight limit.
But enter Marcos Maidana who unlike Khan has proven himself as a welterweight and a titlist. He lost his first welterweight fight back in early 2012 to Devon Alexander (The guy that clinches his opponents to death). Since then Maidana has won 4 straight, knocking out credible opponents like Jesus Soto Karass and Josesito Lopez and earning a shot at Broner’s welterweight title. The rest is history.
Khan has some decisions to make which start with firing whoever has been advising him over the past few months. He then has to recognize that in order to get a fight with the best fighter in the world he must earn it, not talk his way into it. He then needs to stay off his twitter and fully commit to boxing. There was a video of trainer Virgil Hunter last year in which Virgil expressed he felt Khan could beat Mayweather if he was fully committed to the sport, but he emphasized Khan is not fully committed.
Unfortunately for Khan fighting Devon Alexander or Shawn Porter is not going to cut it if he hopes to get back in the race for a fight with Floyd in September. He needs to fight a legit opponent and look extremely impressive like the last 6 Mayweather opponents. This is of course assuming he has not ruined future chances fighting Floyd with his off the wall antics and that he actually wins his next fight. Khan has yet to prove his chin can with stand a punch from a full-fledged welterweight and he has already shown that he is vulnerable at the junior welterweight limit.
Khan is an exceptional talent; he’s young and can learn from these mistakes, if he wants to be around years after Floyd retires he is going to need to commit to the sport of boxing. He is going to have to earn a top position in the sport by fighting the best and winning. Remember we are talking about a guy that feels Mayweather, the best in the sport just ducked him. This growing up faze for Khan may take a while.
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