By Gav Duthie: If Amir Khan doesn’t lower his sights with regards to his next opponent he could end up with nobody. In keeping up this one man crusade to fight only Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao he risks alienating every top fighter just below that level. I have no problem with Khan calling out Floyd, every fighter between the 140lb-154lb division does it when they are in the post fight interview after an average victory (eg Collazo v Ortiz, Lara v Smith).
In saying that Amir Khan is starting to embarrass himself taking his propaganda to a whole new level saying that Mayweather is scared of him. The whole boxing world is on the edge of their seat as the anticipation grows that Mayweather-Pacquiao might actually happen and Amir looks like the poor kid in the playground that’s begging to be picked next that nobody wants.
Know your place
Khan had a fantastic comeback year in 2014. After his back to back losses to Peterson and Garcia in 2012 and one below par performance against Julio Diaz in 2013 it was imperative he bounced back. Amir said he would be stronger at 147, he said he was better with Virgil Hunter. He proved himself right. Luis Collazo was a former world champion and a big Welterweight and Devon Alexander was a also a former champion at 147 with an impressive win over Marcos Maidana also. He undoubtedly got himself back in the mix, unfortunately Khan seems to think these two wins make him the greatest fighter on the planet. He is quite happy to dismiss Kell Brook as beneath him but doesn’t understand that he would only be a poor second choice if Mayweather-Pacquaio doesn’t happen also.
Other Competition
The risk in this strategy to keep calling these two out is that all the other potential candidates are looking elsewhere. Before Amir picked Devon there were strong links to Robert Guerrero. Now ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero is set to fight Keith Thurman another potential opponent for Khan. It also surprises me that Amir has shown no desire to avenge his losses to Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson. Although both still reside at 140lb a catch-weight fight or move up would be entirely possible but as it stands they are going to fight each other in a unification bout. Then there is Kell Brook who Amir seems to have dismissed out of hand despite him being the 33 fight undefeated IBF champion. Kell is set to announce his next foe on Monday which will not be Amir. Already a couple of weeks into January 5 possible opponents have other plans.
Kell Brook
Amir has said they will only fight if Khan gets the lion share of the purse and his promotional company organizes all aspects of the event. I can’t seem to get my head around his delusions of grandeur.
Both have fought 33 fights
Kell Brook is 33-0
Amir Khan is 30-3
Kell Brook is the IBF world champion and Amir Khan is not.
Even in terms of UK popularity I would suggest that Kell Brook is more endearing to the public than Amir Khan. It just goes to show that Amir Khan is his own number 1 fan.
Who else?
As it stands there are still some good fights out there considering the depth of talent in the 147 division but the names are running out fast. My order of preference would be:
Tim Bradley
Marcos Maidana 2
Shawn Porter
Amir tweeted recently that he beat Maidana easily. Although most would disagree with that statement it seems unlikely Amir would risk a rematch. Tim has talked moving up to Light middleweight and we haven’t heard much from Shawn Porter since his defeat to Kell Brook.
In reaching for the sky it is quite likely Amir will end up scraping the barrel if he wishes to fight in the first half of 2015. The self proclaimed King has made some solid inroads into the welterweight division but he needs at least one more big win before he fights the likes of Mayweather or Pacquiao.
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