Trainer Naazim Richardson isn’t giving Amir Khan much of any chance of beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he’s the one that ends up fighting Mayweather in his next fight on May 3rd in Las Vegas. To Richardson, he feels that Khan will come out ahead just by giving Mayweather problems in the fight.
“His [Khan] reputation is so bad,” Richardson said to Hustleboss. “He doesn’t have to win. He just has to do well so people will say he’s back on track. I don’t think he can beat Floyd. He has to reassert himself as a player in the game.”
The whole problem with the Khan-Mayweather fight is it’s not seen as a competitive match-up. It’s seen as a mismatch, and about the most boxing fans can hope for is Khan putting up a good fight en route to losing it. That’s not exactly exciting if your a fan who paid big money to see the fight on PPV.
Richardson is right about Khan being in position to come out of this fight looking good even if he loses. If Mayweather has to struggle to win the fight, Khan comes out smelling like a rose. If he can give Mayweather problems during portions of the fight, Khan will be in demand because fans will see him as the guy that gave Mayweather some issues. It probably won’t make Khan a better fighter. He’ll likely still experience the same problems with his chin after the fight like he did before it.
Khan comes out ahead even if he gets blown out by Mayweather, because the payday that he’ll be getting for the Mayweather fight will be the biggest one of his career. If Khan’s career tanks immediately after the fight, and some would say Khan’s career is pretty finished now, he would still have the big money that he’ll be getting for the Mayweather fight. In other words, the Mayweather fight is Khan hitting the lottery jackpot because of the millions he’ll get for the fight.
If Khan loses but makes Mayweather work hard in beating him, we’d still be seeing Khan with the same problems he’s always had when he does eventually face another puncher. If Golden Boy Promotions matches Khan carefully like they did after they first took charge of promoting him, then Khan will win a lot of fights for him. It’s just that when he does end up having to fight someone like Marcos Maidana gain, Khan will likely get knocked out unless there’s a referee that can someone keep Maidana off of him during critical points in the fight like when he’s been buzzed from a big shot.