By Rick Reeno
The big announcement by Floyd Mayweather Jr. created a ripple effect. The undefeated WBC welterweight champion selected WBA counterpart Marcos Maidana to be his opponent on May 3rd, likely at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Mayweather's selection has affected both Adrien Broner (27-1, 22KOs) and Amir Khan (28-3, 19KOs).
For several months, Khan was widely considered to be the likely candidate to land Mayweather. That perception was changed when Maidana scored a career-defining upset victory over previously undefeated Adrien Broner last December.
A few weeks after the loss, Broner exercised a contractual clause for an immediate rematch with Maidana. Golden Boy Promotions was trying to stage the rematch on a date in April. Maidana, citing concerns with an April date, requested more time to properly prepare for the rematch.
Golden Boy's CEO, Richard Schaefer, is planning to meet with the respective teams of Broner and Khan, to discuss several potential big fight scenarios for both boxers in the coming months.
"What we need to do now is move forward. If Floyd would have picked Amir, then Maidana would have had a big fight ahead of him. Floyd decided to fight Maidana, so then Amir is going to have a big fight ahead of him. The fact is, there is no shortage of talent. It is a very deep talent pool at 140 and 147," Schaefer told BoxingScene.com.
"I'm going to be working with the respective teams, including the team of Adrien Broner, to put together the most exciting fights. Now we know the centerpiece of the puzzle, which is Mayweather and Maidana, and now we can go and start filling out the remaining cards and dates, whether it's April 19th or April 26 or May 3rd. There are a lot of potential fights to be made and put on those cards and that's what I'm going to be working on in the coming days."
In a recent interview with the National, Khan revealed three possible opponents for his next fight - Broner, IBF junior welterweight champion Lamont Peterson and IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter.
Before any moves can be made, Khan must confirm his fighting weight. If Khan intends to fight at 147, that would likely rule out Broner and Peterson, says Schaefer. And Porter's adviser, Al Haymon, is already lining up another opponent for his boxer. But there are still many possibilities for Khan's next fight, at 147 or 140.
When Schaefer meets with Khan and Broner, he will confirmed their desired fighting weight - and based on their decisions he will present them with realistic possibilities.
"I think what we need to look at - if its Peterson it would have to be at 140. Adrien Broner I believe will be moving to 140 as well. I think Al [Haymon] is thinking about somebody else for Shawn Porter. But I think what we need to discuss with the respective teams is what weight they want to fight at, before these names begin floating around," Schaefer said.
"The fact is, there are a lot of names at 140 and 147 - there is Lucas Matthysse as well, Keith Thurman as well, Paulie Malignaggi as well, Luis Collazo as well, there is potentially a Robert Guerrero as well. There are all of these names out there. There are a lot of names who want to be in big fights."
"It is now a matter of us sitting down with the respective teams and getting some of these fights done, but before we couldn't really do that until A. Mayweather picked who he was going to fight and B. where it was going to happen. Now that I have a better idea on that and know what's going to happen - I'm now going to go to work."
