By Keith Idec

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s explanation Thursday for why he didn’t pick Amir Khan as his Sept. 12 opponent was similar to the rationale of countless critics that didn’t want Mayweather-Khan to happen.

“Amir Khan has to get past Danny Garcia first,” Mayweather told Showtime’s Brian Custer in an interview that followed the Mayweather-Andre Berto press conference in Los Angeles.

“Once Amir Khan can get past Danny Garcia, then … you know, the fight would’ve happened. But that’s not my focus. My focus is Andre Berto, a guy I can’t overlook, a former two-time world champion. He’s dedicated to the sport, just like myself, and he’s going to push me.”

Garcia (31-0, 18 KOs) knocked out Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) in the fourth round of their July 2012 junior welterweight title fight in Las Vegas. The 28-year-old Khan has won five consecutive fights since Garcia stopped him and would’ve been a more marketable opponent than Berto, but the polarizing British star has drawn criticism over the years for failing to pursue rematches with Philadelphia’s Garcia and Colombia’s Breidis Prescott (28-7, 21 KOs), who knocked out Khan in the first round of their September 2008 bout in Manchester, England.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.