By Hector Gonzalez: There were rumors circulating a couple of weeks ago that Amir Khan was going to fight Robert Guerrero. I was looking forward to that fight, however this Monday it was officially announced that Amir Khan is going to instead fight Devon Alexander instead of Robert Guerrero.
It’s a bit disappointing because Khan vs Guerrero is the more exciting fight, especially because there is bad blood between the two. The reality is that Khan has instead chosen the safer path in going with Devon Alexander with the intention that if Khan is to be victorious he would have a shot at fighting Floyd Mayweather come May of 2015.
First of all I’m going start off by clarifying a couple of points. Some fans believe that if Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerro and Marcos Maidana were given a chance of fighting Mayweather then Amir Khan should also be granted the opportunity to fight Mayweather. There is one major difference from the three names listed about and Amir Khan, the main difference is that all three of those fighters were at the time WBC or WBA champions at 147 who actually took the belts. In the case of Amir Khan, he was handed the WBC silver belt. How? I don’t know? He’s the number #1 147 WBC top contender after beating Luis Callazo who is now ranked at #24 by the WBC.
Let’s go back a couple years and start with Victor Ortiz. First of all whether fans want to except it or not, Ortiz was the WBC Champion going into the Mayweather fight. Let me repeat that, Ortiz was the CHAMPION and Mayweather the CHALLENGER going into the fight. Mayweather had vacated the 147 belt after moving to 154, Andre Berto became the interim champion. As I recall Berto was the one that was in line to fight Mayweather and not Ortiz, in fact Ortiz was the 6-1 underdog vs Berto. Ortiz takes the belt from Berto making Ortiz the 147 Champion.
Robert Guerrero jumps to 147 and takes on the #1 WBC Challenger in Selcuk Aydin. Not the #5, #6, or #7 challenger. The #1 challenger and beats him. Robert Guerrero becomes the 147 interim champion and defends his belt against Andre Berto. Again, Guerrero was the 3-1 underdog and comes out on top.
Pualie Malignaggi was the WBA belt holder when it was taken by Adrien Broner. There was some small talks circulating that Broner could be a candidate for Mayweather. Marcos Maidana fights Adrian Broner and takes the belt from him making Marcos Maidana the WBA welter weight champion. Again, Maidana was the man who was not supposed to win. In other words these three fighters literally fought their way to getting a chance against Floyd Mayweather.
All due respect to Devon Alexander but the last championship fight he was in he lost to Shawn Porter, and his last victory was a 10 rounder against Jesus Soto Karass.
Amir Khan could do what Robert Guerrero did and fight the #1 contender, which in his case he could go after the WBA #1 contender which is Keith Thurman. He could have gone after Robert Guerrero which is the #8 WBC contender, not at the very top but at least a decent raking. Devon Alexander is not ranked by the WBC or WBA.
It seems like Amir Khan is cutting corners somewhere. To many of us fans it looks like Amir Khan was given more opportunities then other fighters.
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