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Details of Khans new contract with GBP, also Bradley not commiting to fight Khan
Junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan took care of business inside the ring on Saturday by retaining his title against Paul McCloskey, but he also took care of business outside of the ring in the days leading up to the fight.
Khan has signed a four-fight contract extension with promoter Golden Boy and a parallel four-fight deal with HBO, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com.
Khan's contract with Golden Boy was due to expire following the fight with McCloskey, but Schaefer said they finalized a new deal they had been working on for a couple of months just before the fight.
"We've been negotiating the extension and last week we signed it," Schaefer said. "We agreed awhile ago that we would want to continue to work together. It took time while we were negotiating the best possible deal for everyone."
In the first fight of the new agreement, the 24-year-old Khan (25-1, 17 KOs) easily defeated McCloskey by shutout in a six-round technical decision. The fight, which drew more than 17,000 to the MEN Arena in Manchester, was Khan's homecoming fight in England after he fought his previous two bouts in the United States. Saturday's fight was cut short when McCloskey was cut by an accidental head butt in the sixth round.
"Amir's future is so bright," said Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya, who was ringside for the fight against McCloskey. "Amir wants to unify titles. He would also want to move up to 147 pounds eventually. There are many possibilities. He wants to fight the best and we want to make those fights for him. It's very exciting for us. We will have a great champion for many years to come."
While Schaefer was working on the new promotional contract, he was also negotiating Khan's deal with HBO. The network has has televised Khan's last three fights McCloskey, the 2010 Boxing Writers Association fight of the year against Marcos Maidana and a defense against Paulie Malignaggi. Schaefer said he met multiple times with HBO executives in New York, including a key meeting about a month ago that also included Shah Khan (Amir's father) and Robert Davis (Khan's attorney).
"I spent a lot of time over the past few months putting this together and part of that time was negotiating with HBO for the best deal for Amir Khan," said Schaefer, who would not disclose the financial terms. "I believe, and I'm sure HBO believes, that Amir has the opportunity to become, pound-for-pound, one of the best fighters in the world. There is a great lineup of potential fights for Amir. We know that Amir has the talent to win these fights and, in the process, become pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world."
Said HBO's Kery Davis, "We believe Amir has a bright future in the sport and is an emerging star. We look forward to his next fight on HBO."
Khan's next fight is tentatively supposed to be a July 23 unification bout with American Timothy Bradley Jr. (27-0, 11 KOs), who owns two 140-pound belts. He unified two titles with a 10th-round technical decision victory against Devon Alexander on Jan. 29.
"We are trying to finalize that fight," Schaefer said. "[Bradley promoter] Gary Shaw is going to be in Los Angeles this week, so we can talk about it some more. There's been some talk that maybe the Bradley side isn't going to take the fight or this and that, so I talked to Gary on Monday and wanted to know if we have a fight. He confirmed we have a fight, so we are working on the paperwork."
Bradley and his management, however, have not yet committed to the bout.
If the fight is made, Schaefer said he has three sites on hold as possible venues: Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, where Khan defeated Maidana in their rousing slugfest in December, the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
"We are excited to continue to work with Amir," Schaefer said. "He and his team see we have done a good job for Amir, taking his fights to New York and then to Las Vegas, and we know there are huge opportunities for Amir. I can see huge paydays for him. We want to start in July with Amir's run with the fight against Bradley to get him in position where he can eventually fight for that No. 1 position on the pound-for-pound list."
From ESPN
Khan has signed a four-fight contract extension with promoter Golden Boy and a parallel four-fight deal with HBO, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com.
Khan's contract with Golden Boy was due to expire following the fight with McCloskey, but Schaefer said they finalized a new deal they had been working on for a couple of months just before the fight.
"We've been negotiating the extension and last week we signed it," Schaefer said. "We agreed awhile ago that we would want to continue to work together. It took time while we were negotiating the best possible deal for everyone."
In the first fight of the new agreement, the 24-year-old Khan (25-1, 17 KOs) easily defeated McCloskey by shutout in a six-round technical decision. The fight, which drew more than 17,000 to the MEN Arena in Manchester, was Khan's homecoming fight in England after he fought his previous two bouts in the United States. Saturday's fight was cut short when McCloskey was cut by an accidental head butt in the sixth round.
"Amir's future is so bright," said Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya, who was ringside for the fight against McCloskey. "Amir wants to unify titles. He would also want to move up to 147 pounds eventually. There are many possibilities. He wants to fight the best and we want to make those fights for him. It's very exciting for us. We will have a great champion for many years to come."
While Schaefer was working on the new promotional contract, he was also negotiating Khan's deal with HBO. The network has has televised Khan's last three fights McCloskey, the 2010 Boxing Writers Association fight of the year against Marcos Maidana and a defense against Paulie Malignaggi. Schaefer said he met multiple times with HBO executives in New York, including a key meeting about a month ago that also included Shah Khan (Amir's father) and Robert Davis (Khan's attorney).
"I spent a lot of time over the past few months putting this together and part of that time was negotiating with HBO for the best deal for Amir Khan," said Schaefer, who would not disclose the financial terms. "I believe, and I'm sure HBO believes, that Amir has the opportunity to become, pound-for-pound, one of the best fighters in the world. There is a great lineup of potential fights for Amir. We know that Amir has the talent to win these fights and, in the process, become pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world."
Said HBO's Kery Davis, "We believe Amir has a bright future in the sport and is an emerging star. We look forward to his next fight on HBO."
Khan's next fight is tentatively supposed to be a July 23 unification bout with American Timothy Bradley Jr. (27-0, 11 KOs), who owns two 140-pound belts. He unified two titles with a 10th-round technical decision victory against Devon Alexander on Jan. 29.
"We are trying to finalize that fight," Schaefer said. "[Bradley promoter] Gary Shaw is going to be in Los Angeles this week, so we can talk about it some more. There's been some talk that maybe the Bradley side isn't going to take the fight or this and that, so I talked to Gary on Monday and wanted to know if we have a fight. He confirmed we have a fight, so we are working on the paperwork."
Bradley and his management, however, have not yet committed to the bout.
If the fight is made, Schaefer said he has three sites on hold as possible venues: Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, where Khan defeated Maidana in their rousing slugfest in December, the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
"We are excited to continue to work with Amir," Schaefer said. "He and his team see we have done a good job for Amir, taking his fights to New York and then to Las Vegas, and we know there are huge opportunities for Amir. I can see huge paydays for him. We want to start in July with Amir's run with the fight against Bradley to get him in position where he can eventually fight for that No. 1 position on the pound-for-pound list."
From ESPN
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