Khan is Happy Mayweather, Alexander Fights Fell Out

By Rick Reeno

Former champion Amir Khan (29-3, 19KOs) was very frustrated when Floyd Mayweather Jr. passed him over for a potential fight back in May.

Last year, Khan put his career on hold and withdrew from a planned December fight with then IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander - because he was made to believe that a May date with Mayweather was going to be a reality.

Instead, Mayweather faced Marcos Maidana. Khan appeared on the undercard of that show, where he made his welterweight debut with a dominating decision win over former division champion Luis Collazo.

This Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Khan will finally get in the ring with Alexander. Should Khan win, he will be an obvious frontrunner for Mayweather in 2015.

He now feels the way things played out was a blessing in disguise, because it allowed him additional time to physically build himself into a true welterweight.

"One thing I've learned in boxing, is that you [never think that you are] going to get this fight or not that fight. Nothing is guaranteed in life. I'm actually happy that I didn't get the Mayweather fight and Alexander then, because I was new at 147 then. It allowed me to build to the weight instead of just jumping up to the weight. It let me build up to 147 and spend time in gym to improve my style. All of that time I wasn't in the ring but I stayed in the gym working," Khan told BoxingScene.com.