It would be nice to think that the line has been drawn through the whole Mayweather and Khan chronicles, at least for the time being anyway, but it is difficult to imagine that Khan has seriously discarded any ambition of being handed the May 3rd slot against the number one pound-for-pound king.
Yesterday Khan sent out a stream of tweets suggesting that the fight was dead; whether he actually knows anything official or not can only be speculated but it appears that he has had enough of Mayweather’s lack of communication and is moving on to a plan B. There is however a hint of suggestion that Khan may not be revealing all, given how he wishes luck to Maidana in the Mayweather fight, against the probable scenario where he is just regarding the fight’s other front-runner.
Should Mayweather suddenly turn around now and openly offer Khan the fight then it is very difficult to imagine Khan turning down a career best payday. Khan may even be throwing his toys out of the pram in order to prompt Mayweather into quicker giving him the call but this, against a boxing master tactician in and out of the ring, would be a risky strategy and would likely backfire.
Within Khan’s tweets on the matter he notes how his time has been wasted by Mayweather and also notes how he should have taken the fight with Alexander last December.
In a previous article I stated how Khan should never have been considered for a shot at Mayweather without having proved himself as an elite welterweight, and a convincing victory against Devon would have well warranted the opportunity. The irony I think Khan fails to see is that he had wasted Alexander’s time for a good while during the proposition of their bout until Khan withdrew to focus on training with Virgil Hunter in preparation for the Mayweather clash.
Khan is absolutely right, though; he should have taken the fight with Devon so more boxing fans beyond Khan’s clan would have gotten behind Khan V Mayweather. As a hardcore British boxing fan who was well behind Hatton when he travelled to Vegas a few years ago I would love to see another British fighter have a go against Mayweather, but I was never behind Khan getting the shot as he has simply not earned it yet.
This leads on to another British welterweight in Kell Brook and another piece of irony that I think fails to dawn on Khan. Brook has wanted the fight against Khan for a long while, and so have many British boxing fans. The two have verbally clashed head to head on Sky Sports’ ‘Ringside’ programme and fans between the two camps have traded words on Twitter regarding the outcome of a likely meeting. Brook’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, really wants to make the fight and has said for as long as Kell that he would love to make it. Hearn recently proposed that there was $5 million in it for Khan to take the fight. The only person who doesn’t like the fight is Khan because he insists that Kell is yet to prove himself at elite level.
I can see where Khan is coming from given the higher calibre of opposition he has faced but Kell has certainly proved himself as a world-class welterweight in knocking out Senchenko last October, whereas Khan is yet to do so in spite of his success at a lower weight. And then of course is the other element of Brook being undefeated and Khan tasting defeat twice from his last four fights which provide further cause for the fight being made.
I realise that Golden Boy Promotions would be looking for a far bigger draw from the American audience in a fighter like Garcia, Peterson, Alexander, Porter etc… for Khan to face. Khan has openly stated that if he did not fight Mayweather then he would want to headline his own show rather than serving as one of Mayweather’s undercard bout and so a bigger worldwide name would appeal to Khan.
And here is where I introduce yet another ironic matter. Khan has also said that if it made more financial sense to fight on Mayweather’s undercard than headlining his own show then he would highly consider it. In effect Khan will choose the financially healthier option out those two scenarios. But the 5 mill that Hearn offered Khan for the Brook fight is a sum that he will likely not get anywhere near to without the Mayweather bout, which makes the Brook fight the second most financially healthier option for Khan. Yet today during a Twitter conversation with Eddie Hearn a member of Khan’s camp said that the fight with Brook is not about money as Khan has ‘made enough money far more than you think’.
I am not saying that Khan should necessarily fight Brook, although I would very much like to see it, but from a financial perspective it seems to make the most sense if he is not to fight Mayweather anytime soon. What I think Khan and his camp really need to do though with immediate effect is to stop contradicting themselves.
