In a sign that Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s) sees his May 3rd fight against Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s) as a prelude to him getting a big money/cash out fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September or early 2015, Khan says he’s going to be calling Mayweather out at the post press conference after the May 3rd Floyd Mayweather v. Marcos Maidana fight on Showtime pay-per-view at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Khan says he would like to face Mayweather. Oddly enough, Khan isn’t saying he’d like to fight Maidana if he beats Mayweather, but you would have to hope so because that would look like of funny if Khan kept pushing for a Mayweather fight even if he lost to Maidana.
“I’ll probably be at ringside for Mayweather’s fight against Maidana and will call him out again in the [post-fight] press conference so we’ll have to see what happens,” Khan said via Sky Sports. “I think he wants the fight and there’s a lot of public demand for it…If he wants to have another three fights in his career, I have to be one of them.”
The idea of Khan and Mayweather fighting is a good one, but I’m not so sure it’s an ideal time after the Collazo fight. To build up a Khan-Mayweather fight proper, Golden Boy needs to match Khan against a better welterweight than Collazo, or at least a better known one.
Collazo is known to hardcore fans who followed the sport back in 2006 and 2007 when Collazo was more relevant. But he disappeared largely after his loss to Ricky Hatton in 2006, and has been kind of out of sight out of mind for the past 7 years.
Collazo beat Victor Ortiz last January, but that’s a fight that wasn’t televised by Showtime, so not a lot of people saw it. What Golden Boy needs to do it put Khan in with someone like Kell Brook, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter or Devon Alexander to have him beat a recognizable opponent. Collazo was a decent fighter many years ago, but after losses to Hatton and Andre Berto, he just disappeared.
Dragging Collazo back out for the Khan fight and expecting boxing fans to get excited if Khan beats him is really assuming a lot. I wouldn’t count on fans giving two figs if Khan beats Collazo. A win over Collazo is pretty much the same thing as Khan’s wins over Julio Diaz and Carlos Molina, as far as casual boxing fans go. The formula is simple. Drag out an old name with an inflated ranking by the WBA [Collazo is ranked #3 by the WBA-, and have Khan beat him so that boxing fans think he’s back. When in reality, Khan would have his hands full if he were put in with the likes of relevant fighters like Brook, Keith Thurman, Devon Alexander and Shawn Porter.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is already talking about the Khan-Collazo winner possibly winding up as an opponent for Mayweather in the near future, but a lot of fans doubt that applies to Collazo if he beats Khan. They see it only for Khan if he beats Collazo, because Khan brings a lot of fans due to his large fan base.
