Amir Khan
wants a mega fight with Floyd Mayweather on British soil.
wants a mega fight with Floyd Mayweather on British soil. The WBA light-welterweight champion is hoping to step into the ring with the man many believe to be the pound-for-pound No.1 in the next 12 months.
And Bolton star Khan believes the bout could even sell out Wembley Stadium such would be the public interest.And he would love to do so in front of a UK audience.
“I always said I wanted a big fight in England,” said the 23-year-old. “I want to bring the big fights back to this country.
“The Floyd Mayweather fight would be one of those.
“I wanted to fight Maidana in the UK, but he wanted to fight in America.
“It wasn’t my decision, but I know my true fans are over here and I will come back after this one.
“The Mayweather fight could definitely happen in England.
“After he fought Ricky Hatton he said he wanted to fight over here and I am the only British fighter of the calibre to take him on.
“We could bring it to the UK and it would be massive.
“That fight could fill anywhere.”
Just last month Khan was talking up the possibility of a Battle of Britain with European lightweight champion, John Murray.
He also has designs on unifying the light-welterweight division by taking on the winner of Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley, who hold the WBC, WBO and IBF titles between them.
But US promoter Golden Boy are now looking to fast-track a mouth-watering clash with Mayweather.
They fear they will never get official pound-for-pound No.1, Manny Pacquiao, and Mayweather in the ring together as negotiations continue to stall.
They see Khan – whose profile has sky-rocketed Stateside since his US debut against Paulie Malignaggi in May – as an ideal alternative and are hoping the clash will garner the same sort of worldwide interest as when Hatton took on Mayweather in 2007.
“In the next 12 months I will be ready to take on huge names,” said Khan.
“The biggest names are in the divisions and that excites me.
“When I went to Freddie Roach, people thought it would happen overnight, that I’d suddenly be ready to fight Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
“We put the suggestion out about Mayweather because in the next 12 months I will be more developed and stronger.
“Also styles make fights. I don’t think Mayweather has ever fought anyone as fast as me – and with Freddie Roach in my corner, I would be confident fighting him.
“People have seen how I’ve improved with my performances.
“For them to be talking about me and saying I should fight Mayweather, it shows how far I’ve come.
“The days have gone where people are saying I should fight John Murray. Now they are putting my name alongside Pacquiao and Mayweather.”
Khan has transformed his career since suffering a devastating first round knockout at the hands of Breidis Prescott in 2008.
In the space of 12 months he decamped to Los Angeles to work with super trainer Roach, and won his first world title with a comprehensive points win over Andriy Kotelnik.
He made a stunning first defence of the title with a first round knockout of Dmitriy Salita last December and followed that up with a hugely impressive stoppage of Malignaggi in New York this year.
It has made him one of the most talked about fighters on the planet and seen him tipped to be a future pound-for-pound No.1. Victory over Argentine knockout specialist Maidana would only see his reputation soar even higher in America.
MEN Arena
Khan puts all that success down to that crushing defeat against Prescott at the MEN Arena.
While Hatton has suffered with depression and problems with alcohol and drugs since his defeat to Pacquiao last year – Khan says he knew he could overcome a knockout that was every bit as brutal as the Hitman’s.
“It all happened so quickly after that,” he said.
“I always had dreams and ambitions and I knew I’d get far one day – but it was that defeat that made me realise how serious boxing is.
“Without that I wouldn’t be here today, so I want to thank him for that.
“I knew I made mistakes in the camp leading up to the fight, so I knew I could overcome it.
“If I hadn’t made any mistakes, it might have been different.
“When you know you’ve not given your best and there is so much room for improvement then you can move on.
“That’s why it hurt Ricky Hatton so much.
“But after the Prescott fight I changed everything.
“I got with the best trainer in the world and you can see how my style and body shape have changed over the past two years. And I can still get better.”
Khan is currently training with Pacquiao in the Philippines ahead of the Pacman’s clash with Antonio Margarito next month.
“Sometimes he gets the better of me, sometimes I get the better of him,” he says.
So can Khan see a day when the two of them step into the ring together for real?
“I don’t want to fight him,” he says.
“We are so close as friends now that it would be very difficult.
“But at the end of the day, boxing is a business, so anything can happen.”
Source: menmedia.co.uk
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