By Jake Donovan
It’s a road that Amir Khan has been down plenty of times before in recent years. He’s learned to no longer get his hopes up, and now simply focus on the task at hand rather than the hypothetical scenario to which it could lead.
So why is it that – as he prepares for a showdown with fellow former 140 lb. titlist Chris Algieri at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (Friday, Spike TV, 9:00 p.m. ET) – the greater conversation piece seems to center around whether or not it will finally lead to a long-coveted showdown with Floyd Mayweather?
There are plenty of theories abound, but Khan isn’t in the mood to hear them.
“Look, there's people putting this fight down, and I don't know why,” Khan (30-3, 19KOs) says of a bout more than a few in the industry believe to be a mismatch. “At the end of the day,
well, boxes well. I definitely have to be on my "A" game.”
Khan has learned to bring his “A” game to his past couple of fights, learning to not assume that name value alone leads to his final destination. Assumption is what ultimately led to a 13-month layoff, even passing on a title fight opportunity because he didn’t want to jeopardize what he believed to be a done deal with Mayweather.
“There's been the word there for the last couple years, that (the Mayweather) fight was going to happen,” Khan notes. “But I'm going to be taking every fight one step at a time, hopefully put on great performances. If that fight comes, obviously it's something I've always wanted.”
Rather than stand in the opposite corner from the best fighter in the world last May, Khan instead landed on the undercard. A chance to face then-welterweight titlist Devon Alexander was declined in favor of a showdown with Mayweather. Khan would fight on May 3, but against former welterweight titlist Luis Collazo – whom he handled – while Mayweather was given a stiff challenge in a narrow win over Marcos Maidana in their first fight.
Maidana was chosen over Khan, who for months was under the impression that the assignment was all his but eventually came to realize the storyline dramatically changed.
The performance turned in by Maidana was good enough to land a sequel in September. The September date was one Khan – a devout Muslim - couldn’t have accepted even if offered, as it would not have left sufficient time for a training camp due to running too close to the holy Ramadan season.
That storyline changes as Ramadan 2015 runs a few weeks earlier than in years past. With Mayweather – on the heels of a landslide win over Pacquiao in the richest fight in boxing history – adamant on September 12, 2015 serving as the final fight of his legendary career, it’s potentially the last shot any welterweight has at hitting the jackpot.
Stylistically, Khan poses a greater challenge than other notable alternatives. Among the welterweight hopefuls to land the “B” side of Mayweather’s 49th – and possibly final (if the rumors of retirement to immediately follow are believed) – fight – is unbeaten titlist Keith Thurman. There’s an outside shot he lands the coveted assignment, but a July 11 showdown with Collazo lessens those chances.
There’s also unbeaten 140 lb. king Danny Garcia, who owns a win over Khan and will likely move up in weight for his next fight. His last fight came in April, a debatable decision win over Lamont Peterson (who also beat Khan, albeit through controversial circumstances) in a catchweight fight at the very same Barclays Arena at which Khan performs this weekend.
Khan has been out of the ring since December, owning just two fights since April ’13. His 12-round win over Alexander came exactly 53 weeks after it was initially intended to take place, with just bragging rights at stake rather than a major title. Khan turned in a convincing win, one that justified his being in the running for a Mayweather clash in May.
The dream fight would’ve happened if not for the unthinkable – a long-awaited showdown between Mayweather and Pacquiao finally coming to fruition.
In a perfect world, all that’s needed for Friday is to win and come out unscathed.
Khan’s perfect world begins and ends with his best foot forward on Friday.
“Definitely, winning this fight is everything to me,” Khan insists. “I'm not looking past this Chris Algieri fight. I know it's a very dangerous fight for me. Stylistically he's very dangerous and I'm not going to be looking past it. If I do, I'll have made a mistake.”
It’s one he’s made in the past, a few times by his own admission, in fact.
Breidis Prescott has built his entire career around a single win, having knocked out a then-unbeaten Khan inside of a round way back in 2008. Khan was a rising prospect at the time, four years removed from his incredible Silver medal run in the 2004 Athens Olympics, at age 17 the lone representative for Great Britain.
Khan quickly rebounded, peeling off eight straight wins. The run included victories over former champs Marco Antonio Barrera and Paul Malignaggi, title-winning efforts over Andriy Kotelnik and Zab Judah, as well as a major gut check in a Dec. ’10 war with Maidana.
The stretch was enough to rate Khan as the best junior welterweight in the world, or at least right alongside then-unbeaten 140 lb. titlist Tim Bradley. Khan tried in vain to make that fight happen, but it would never come to pass. He wound up grabbing the fights within reach, only to endure a two-fight losing streak, going 17 months between wins and in the end learning a lesson in not taking his natural talent for granted.
That – and not a lack of hope in landing THE big fight – is why Khan remains focused on nothing more than May 29, regardless of the suggestion from some that the outcome is all but predetermined against a light-hitting foe on the rebound from a career-worst performance.
“I take every fight seriously. I've made that mistake in the past,” Khan realizes. “I've fought some fights that I thought are going to be a walk in the park; I got hurt, I lost the fight. I'm not thinking any fight is going to be easy. Every fight I walk into, every person in front of me is going to be in there to win the fight.
“I have to be focused. I have to be disciplined in training camp, not looking past this Chris Algieri fight. I know there are big fights out there like Mayweather. I just have to stay focused and win this fight and go from there really.”
Wherever he goes, Khan just wants to know that he’s earned that next step.
“I'm not really listening to what people are saying about future fights or where this fight can take me. To get that fight, you have to look good; you have to shine really,” Khan recognizes. “It's all about working hard, training hard, putting in good performances in the ring. To turn in the best performances in the ring, I can't take it easy in camp. I have to be very focused.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox