By Ryan Maquiñana
Floyd Mayweather has stated repeatedly that following this Saturday’s welterweight unification clash with Marcos Maidana, he plans to return to the ring in September.
Such a date would not bode well for a devout Muslim like Amir Khan, who hopes to score a lucrative pay-per-view bout with Mayweather. The month of Ramadan, where one must refrain from eating or drinking anything from sunrise to sunset, runs from late June to late July this year -- right during the heart of a theoretical summer training camp leading up to a matchup with the pound-for-pound king.
As a result, Khan told BoxingScene.com that a September date would be doubtful due to his religious beliefs.
“Being a Muslim, I’d like to take the whole of Ramadan off,” Khan said. “I’d like to fight away from Ramadan. So if the fight is against Mayweather in September, it would be hard for me to make because I need to be training in July, but I don’t think that’s going to happen because I need a couple months to prepare.
“And also, when you’re fasting from sunrise to sunset, it’s a long time not having water. You need a month kind of to recuperate, not eating all that time. So I’m going to sit down with my team, and getting past this Collazo fight is the main thing first, and then see what we can plan for the future.”
Khan did offer an alternative, though Mayweather is notorious for dictating terms given his massive leverage as the current premier pay-per-view star in the sport. However, the fighters now share the same adviser in Al Haymon.
“But I mean a Mayweather fight, if it could happen I’d love to have it in November, or even December, or even May, it could happen,” Khan said. “But I’m going to keep on focusing on my next opponent who is Luis Collazo and go from there.”
Follow Ryan Maquinana on Twitter @RMaq28.