Amir Khan update

By Boxing News - 07/07/2014 - Comments

khan54By Scott Gilfoid: In an update to the arrest of Amir Khan on July 4th for an alleged assault on two 19-year-old teens in the UK, the allegations have been “withdrawn” by the teens, according to a press release. The incident is being called a “misunderstanding between Amir Khan and two other youths.” So there it is.

In other news, Khan still doesn’t have an opponent for later this year when he fights in November or December. His adviser Al Haymon will surely be finding someone before long, but one can only hope that it’s not another older fighter like in his last two fights against Luis Collazo and Julio Diaz. Those were guys from the past who had left a mark on the sport many years ago but who hadn’t done much in the past 7-10 years.

It’s hoped that Haymon will find a good opponent for Khan, preferably someone like Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter. That would be a real eye opener if Khan were to fight one of them.
Khan would like to fight Manny Pacquiao in November, but it’s highly doubtful that fight will be made. It’s possible in theory the fight can be made, but given the lack of high quality opposition that Khan has faced lately, I don’t see it happening. Besides, Khan’s old trainer Freddie Roach is cool to the idea of Pacquiao fighting Khan now due to the way Khan is holds nowadays when he fights.

Roach is likely talking about the head-locks, clinching and the leaning on the head that Khan has been doing a lot of lately in his fights. Why Khan chose to use those tactics against old timers like Diaz and Collazo is the big question. You would think that with him facing weaker opposition that he wouldn’t need to use those tactics to win, but he chose to use him them for some reason.

Who Khan fights later this year could have a strong bearing on whether he gets his dream bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr next year. Khan needs a big name to create excitement and pressure for him to get the Mayweather fight next May. Right now it’s not looking good for Khan, because Mayweather said that he has a big surprise for that fight, and I just don’t see Khan as being a big surprise.

Of course, Khan might have a chance of inserting himself into the equation to be that surprise if he takes on and beats a live body in November or December instead of another old timer, but I don’t see that happening. If Haymon picks out a safe pick for Khan, he can pretty much forget a fight against Mayweather in 2015 or ever.

To get the big fights in boxing, you need to make a name for yourself, and thus far Khan has failed to due to his knockout losses to Breidis Prescott and Danny Garcia, as well as his defeat to Lamont Peterson. Khan has come close to avenging none of them. Don’t know why, but he hasn’t for some reason, and he still hasn’t beaten what I consider a quality opponent since being scalped twice by Peterson and Garcia in back to back fights.



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