By Bryce Wilson: With the Floyd Mayweather/ Manny Pacquiao bout finally taking place and many of the other major contenders now having their next fight’s locked in the man once again left a little bit in limbo is Amir Khan. Khan has made it clear a number of times that he has been in advanced negotiations to secure a fight with Mayweather as well stating that Manny Pacquiao during his brief whistle stop tour in London earlier in the year also mentioned he may be considering signing on to face Khan.
Despite all of these hints from his elite level rivals we now know that Khan has once again been left out in the cold and the Bolton born fighter has now spent significant portion of his career in the last 2 years sitting on the shelf trying to secure a mega fight. What he clearly needs now is to stay busy and keep himself in the the spotlight as well as continuing the work and progress he has made under new trainer Virgil Hunter.
For any rising welterweight contender facing Amir Khan is a dream opportunity and there is a list of possible suspects, the likes of Frankie Gavern, Dusty Harrison or Kevin Bizier who one would assume would all leap at the opportunity to provide Khan with an opponent to help him stay active whilst waiting for a bigger name fighter to sign on the dotted line. Another such contender hoping to be in the right place at the right time is unbeaten Australian excitement machine, Jeff Horn.
We spoke to Jeff’s trainer Glenn Rushton to get his take on how Jeff is coming along after recent hand surgery and whether Jeff would be in a position to take a fight with Khan should the opportunity arise.
Boxing News: I understand Jeff has just about recovered from his hand operation. When is he ready to fight again?
GR: He’s ready to fight now. All I need is 6 to 8 weeks to get him ready. It’s just a matter of getting a fight.
Boxing News: If Jeff can stay injury free what is the schedule looking like this year? How many times would you like Jeff to fight?
GR: Hopefully we can get 5 fights out this year, but it depends on the quality of the opposition we get.
Boxing News: I know this would be a massive leap up in competition but as you know Amir Khan is currently looking for a stay busy fight right now, how would you feel if Jeff were to face him?
GR: We’d take the fight there’s no issue there.
Boxing News: Khan has improved his defence and punch selection under Virgil Hunter what weaknesses do you still see in him and what do you think Jeff could specifically exploit?
GR: Well he’s 28 he’s at the top of his game, he’s about Jeff’s height, he’s about Jeff’s reach. I don’t consider him a power puncher, he’s a great boxer of course. He has been knocked out twice and we’d love to make it a third time. If he tries to go toe to toe with Jeff, well Jeff is too tough, Jeff will just destroy him.
Boxing News: Khan has spent the best part of almost 2 years chasing Mayweather without any luck and right now a lot of his potential dance partner’s at 147 already have their card full, it is probably important for Khan that he fights soon regardless.
GR: Yeah that’s right. It’s very tough right at the very top. Everybody’s got limited availabilities and is doing their own thing. And Mayweather only fights twice a year as it is.
Boxing News: If they scout Jeff do you think his punching power may put Khan off?
GR: One would think a guy like Amir Khan wouldn’t fear anyone. The danger is they’re gonna look at Jeff and see he’s a quarter finalist at the Olympics, he’s a classy boxer. They’re gonna look at his professional record and see he’s got a very good knockout record and he’s got a very aggressive style. They would know he’s in for a tough fight. Jeff is also a very good technical fighter as well. I believe Jeff can match him on technique and beat him on toughness and punching power. That’s where the difference would come in over 12 rounds. It would be a great fight for TV.
Boxing News: Another local name who is well known is Anthony Mundine. The word around is that when they sparred a year or so ago Jeff came out probably bettering Mundine. I’m assuming if you’d fight Khan you’d also take the Mundine fight in a heartbeat?
GR: You know even in that spar I had to tell Jeff to back off a bit you’re making him look a bit silly. I said hit him but don’t keep hitting him. (Laughs) We’d take Mundine, the problem with Mundine is we only see him as publicity. He’s an aging boxer, he was alright once but he’s getting to the end of his career. It’s not going to give Jeff the credibility that we really seek.
Boxing News: Other than these names is there anyone else on your radar that you’d like Jeff to face in the next couple of fights?
GR: Everybody is really on the hit list, but when it comes to Mayweather and Pacquiao we’re realists, you have to take a ticket and stand in line. You have to earn the right to fight those type of guys. We understand that, but at the same time if an opportunity presents itself to fight someone we’re ready to take it. The key is to always be ready for opportunities. Should something come out of leftfield we have to ready to take it. All these guys we’ve got on our radar, the Kell Brook’s, the Shawn Porter’s the Amir Khan’s, we’ve just got to manoeuvre our way into a position to fight them. For instance I believe Jeff would beat Guerrero. We don’t fight Thai taxi drivers, people offer us these types of fights all the time but we don’t want to fight these kind of guys. We could run up a 20-0 record real easy just fighting bums, but then it doesn’t prepare you for the bigger fights ahead. All we can do is keep fighting good fighters and keep beating them, that’s what’s within our control.
Boxing News: Thanks for your time Glenn and it should be interesting to see who Jeff can line up for his next opponent.
GR: No problem, anytime.
Whether it be jackpot fight against Amir Khan or another top 20 type opponent we look forward to seeing the likeable Aussie fighter in the ring sometime soon. Can Horn make some real noise at welterweight? 2015 may just be the year we find out.
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