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Floyd Mayweather to take on Amir Khan before Manny Pacquiao?
With Golden Boy and Top Rank currently in the middle of yet another feud, this time over alleged bookkeeping inaccuracies concerning several of Manny Pacquiao's fights, the prospect of any of their respective fighters facing off in the near future looks bleak to say the least.
Not only does this probably mean many more uninspiring in house bouts in the near future, but that opponents for the marquee star of each promotional stable, namely Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, will soon have to be found.
According to an article by the Daily Mail's Jeff Powell, the next in line to take on Floyd Mayweather is none other than WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan. In aforementioned article, Richard Schaefer was quoted saying:
‘If we can’t make Mayweather-Pacquiao in the spring it may be too late,’
‘So this gives us time to build Amir into a pay-per-view superstar in the US.
See the article in its entirety here: Amir Khan next in line to replace Manny Pacquaio for fight of the century against Mayweather Jnr
While this might sound like an odd pairing given that Mayweather still constantly talks about fighting Pacquiao, both Floyd and Khan are on the Golden Boy side of the divide, and unless Floyd switches his promotional allegiance in the near future, a fight between him and Pacquiao looks as distant as ever, and might bemore likely in the summer or even fall of next year.
But is Khan really on Mayweather's level just yet?
Amir Khan is a great fighter, and could even eventually take over as the big star of the sport when the likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao are out of the picture. With a gradual learning curve that is.
But at the moment his resume is extremely thin for someone looking to take on one of the best fighters in the spot. He has yet to rule his own division, has yet to fight at welterweight, which is the division any fight between him and Floyd would likely take place in. He has also yet to put up significant numbers on pay per view, and at just 23 has undoubtedly not nearly hit at his peak yet.
Khan's biggest wins at the moment are against the likes of Paulie Malignaggi and Andriy Kotelnik, both of which heavily favored him stylistically, and neither of whom are known as big punchers. He does take on Marcos Maidana in December, but even after that has a long way to go before he can claim to have a truly impressive record.
Is it really to the benefit of either party to have Khan take on Mayweather right now?
If Khan loses, then his growing momentum is disrupted, and even if he goes on to bigger and better things in the future, he will probably always be compared to Mayweather. Vitali Klitschko's loss to Lennox Lewis is still mentioned to this day, despite the fact that he has beaten just about everyone put in front of him since. A loss now could mean Khan would suffer the same fate.
From Mayweather's perspective, taking on an up and coming fighter who currently fights at a lower weight would be another blow to his already fragile reputation. If he wins, as he would be expected to, it would do very little for his reputation and people would ask why he wasn't instead taking on someone from his own weight class.
If Mayweather were to lose, then his drawing power, legacy and status within the sport would probably be irreparably damaged. Unlike other big draws, he really only has his unbeaten record to draw the fans. Simply, Mayweather's personality and numerous out of the ring indiscretions don't lend themselves to him still being nearly as popular after he loses.
So why would either party even be interested in such a bout in the first place?
The only obvious motivation on Mayweather's part would be money. Against Ricky Hatton, who at the time was a much bigger name in the U.K and worldwide than Khan is now, Mayweather did big business against an opponent he was well suited to fighting. For Khan aside from the financial motivations, he would be getting the chance to beat one of the biggest names in the sport and instantly jump up in the rankings.
Not only does this probably mean many more uninspiring in house bouts in the near future, but that opponents for the marquee star of each promotional stable, namely Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, will soon have to be found.
According to an article by the Daily Mail's Jeff Powell, the next in line to take on Floyd Mayweather is none other than WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan. In aforementioned article, Richard Schaefer was quoted saying:
‘If we can’t make Mayweather-Pacquiao in the spring it may be too late,’
‘So this gives us time to build Amir into a pay-per-view superstar in the US.
See the article in its entirety here: Amir Khan next in line to replace Manny Pacquaio for fight of the century against Mayweather Jnr
While this might sound like an odd pairing given that Mayweather still constantly talks about fighting Pacquiao, both Floyd and Khan are on the Golden Boy side of the divide, and unless Floyd switches his promotional allegiance in the near future, a fight between him and Pacquiao looks as distant as ever, and might bemore likely in the summer or even fall of next year.
But is Khan really on Mayweather's level just yet?
Amir Khan is a great fighter, and could even eventually take over as the big star of the sport when the likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao are out of the picture. With a gradual learning curve that is.
But at the moment his resume is extremely thin for someone looking to take on one of the best fighters in the spot. He has yet to rule his own division, has yet to fight at welterweight, which is the division any fight between him and Floyd would likely take place in. He has also yet to put up significant numbers on pay per view, and at just 23 has undoubtedly not nearly hit at his peak yet.
Khan's biggest wins at the moment are against the likes of Paulie Malignaggi and Andriy Kotelnik, both of which heavily favored him stylistically, and neither of whom are known as big punchers. He does take on Marcos Maidana in December, but even after that has a long way to go before he can claim to have a truly impressive record.
Is it really to the benefit of either party to have Khan take on Mayweather right now?
If Khan loses, then his growing momentum is disrupted, and even if he goes on to bigger and better things in the future, he will probably always be compared to Mayweather. Vitali Klitschko's loss to Lennox Lewis is still mentioned to this day, despite the fact that he has beaten just about everyone put in front of him since. A loss now could mean Khan would suffer the same fate.
From Mayweather's perspective, taking on an up and coming fighter who currently fights at a lower weight would be another blow to his already fragile reputation. If he wins, as he would be expected to, it would do very little for his reputation and people would ask why he wasn't instead taking on someone from his own weight class.
If Mayweather were to lose, then his drawing power, legacy and status within the sport would probably be irreparably damaged. Unlike other big draws, he really only has his unbeaten record to draw the fans. Simply, Mayweather's personality and numerous out of the ring indiscretions don't lend themselves to him still being nearly as popular after he loses.
So why would either party even be interested in such a bout in the first place?
The only obvious motivation on Mayweather's part would be money. Against Ricky Hatton, who at the time was a much bigger name in the U.K and worldwide than Khan is now, Mayweather did big business against an opponent he was well suited to fighting. For Khan aside from the financial motivations, he would be getting the chance to beat one of the biggest names in the sport and instantly jump up in the rankings.
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