A Mere Con

I honestly don't think a Pac/Mayweather fight is ever gonna be on the cards for Khan. Goldenboy are smart, they're gonna milk Khan for as long as they can since he's an attraction in the UK. The only way to promote Khan is to have him fight light punchers who have a bit of name recognition (Malignaggi) or guys moving up in weight. It's only a matter of time before Khan gets KO'd again, that sort of vulnerability never goes away, it's their job to make him a star in the US before that happens.

Evidence of the excact details Shaw proposed, and the Excact response by golden boy please? Promoter Gary Shaw likes the idea of tournaments in boxing. That is why he is one of the promoters of Showtime's critically acclaimed Super Six World Boxing Classic, the six-man super middleweight tournament that includes, Andre Dirrell, whom Shaw promotes. Besides the 168-pound super middleweight division, the 140-pound junior welterweight division is one of boxing's deepest and Shaw promotes titleholder Timothy Bradley Jr., who is widely regarded as the No. 1 fighter in the weight class. So Shaw, while touting Bradley's July 17 HBO debut against Luis Carlos Abregu in a nontitle welterweight bout, revealed on a media conference call that he had pitched HBO on a junior welterweight tournament. While the network, which is deeply involved in the weight class, liked the idea, Shaw said it was shot down by Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes three of the fighters who would have potentially been involved, titleholder Amir Khan of England, lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and interim titlist Marcos Maidana of Argentina. "I was up at HBO this week, unbeknownst to anybody," Shaw said. "I offered to do 140-pound tournament with Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, Amir Khan, and if Marquez beats Diaz , he could be in the tournament as well." Shaw later suggested that Maidana could also be a possibility. "I suggested that we have a press conference and we pull names out of a bottle," said Shaw about a blind draw. "If we pulled Devon Alexander, then we fight Devon. If we pull Amir Khan, then we fight Amir Khan or Marquez or any other 140-pound that they want to put in there. "Timothy Bradley will fight anybody, and, to Devon Alexander's credit, he'll fight anybody. But it's the that wouldn't fight." Shaw said HBO wanted to match Bradley and Alexander after they have their upcoming fights, Bradley on July 17 and Alexander in a title defense against former titlist Andreas Kotelnik on Aug. 7. Shaw preferred either pulling random names for the matchups or having the Americans fight the others first. "I said to them, 'Why should two undefeated Americans fight one another?' Let each one of them fight one of the international fighters and then the winners will meet," Shaw said. "And then if you do a press conference and you pick a out of a hat or a bowl or whatever the device is, it would gain great interest. "I said if you want to add more interest to it, give $500,000 to the winner of the tournament strictly for the fighter, not for the manager, not for the team, not for the promoter. The bonus check right to the fighter. And, they liked my ideas. The problem is, Amir Khan, obviously doesn't like the idea and I would assume Golden Boy doesn't like the idea too. But we would do it and Devon Alexander would do it." Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer, who has a tremendous amount of money invested in the division, said they have other plans for Khan, the linchpin of any tournament because of the money he generates in England, and didn't need a tournament. "We are lining up some pretty big fights for him, including the winner of Marquez-Diaz or potentially Maidana or Michael Katsidis," Schaefer said, adding that Khan would be ringside to scout Marquez-Diaz II in advance of a fight in November or December. "These are exciting fights. That is the direction we want to go. But eventually the fights will happen." "Other plans" ie - not fighting the best in your division. I used to think GBP was gonna be be good for the sport but it seems it's turning into duck central. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5299050 http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/5304668/tournament-140-great

If the idea is to build up Khan against lightweights like Casamayor, Diaz and Marquez, and then cash out with Khan facing a top fighter like Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao, then I suppose this is the way to go. But I think Khan will get massacred when that time comes, not because he doesn’t have the basic skills, but rather because he hasn’t been brought along the right way. In the past year, Khan hasn’t had any competitive fights other than the Kotelnik bout, and if he’s going to now be matched up against lightweights, who will be forced to move up in weight if they want the privilege to fight with the inexperienced Khan, then I don’t see how this is preparing Khan to fight the best light welterweights or a great welterweight like Mayweather or maybe Pacquiao. That seems to be the wrong way of bringing Khan along if the idea is to improve him as a fighter and get him ready to fight the likes of Marcos Maidana, Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, Mayweather and Pacquiao. Good point. The thing is I actually think he has a lot of flaws anyway (along with his chin). If they match him like that vs shot lightweights and then throw him in with PBF he has no chance whatsoever.

You've hit the nail on the head. Khan is starting to become a "con".