Khan signs for Mayweather fight but is also willing to face Pacquiao – which match-up is most appealing?

khan#11 As boxing fans may have read by now, Amir Khan, the former WBA/IBF 140-pound champion, has put pen to paper to face superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior next May and is awaiting Floyd’s signature on the contract. This match-up, though derided by many, has long been expected (at least for a number of months now) and not too many people would be shocked if the match-up went ahead.

But Khan, in speaking with The Mail, also said he would be more than willing to face former friend and spar-mate Manny Pacquiao if Mayweather instead opts to face the fighter seen as his other option for May in Marcos Maidana.

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Khan says he’s willing to fight Pacquiao if Mayweather won’t ink contract

khan4045 In an interesting confession, Amir Khan (28-3, 18 KO’s) says he’s already inked his part of the contract for a big fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s), but he’s still waiting and hoping that Mayweather will sign. Khan isn’t saying when the contract was sent to him and how long he’s been waiting on Mayweather.

What Khan is saying is that he’s willing to fight Manny Pacquiao next if Mayweather doesn’t sign the contract. Khan says he would try and bring Pacquiao to Dubai to make the fight happen. Whether that’s feasible given the Golden Boy – Top Rank freeze is the question. Khan’s says he wants Pacquiao, but unless the two promotional companies can work with each other then he’s wasting his breath.

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Provodnikov saying he could get Pacquiao fight on April 12th

provodnikov65 WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) thinks he has a good chance of being the next opponent for Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) on April 12th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Provodnikov says he didn’t want the fight originally, but he’s changed his mind about it and he’s willing to fight Pacquiao in April.

This could be a very difficult fight for Pacquiao if it takes place, because Provodnikov is more rugged and powerful than the guys Pacquiao’s been facing. This is a much tougher fight for Manny than his last opponent former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios. Provodnikov is naturally bigger, faster and stronger than Rios. He also appears to be a smarter fighter than Rios, so it would be a tougher fight for Pacquiao.

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Ricky Burns vs. Terence Crawford on March 1st at Scottish Exhibition Centre, in Glasgow,

burns5 burns5 Barring any kind of re-injury to his jaw during training, WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-2-1, 11 KO’s) will be back in the ring on March 1st against his mandatory challenger from America Terence Crawford (22-0, 16 KO’s) in a fight at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Burns is being pushed into this fight by the World Boxing Organization after they ordered the fight to take place next. Burns wanted to fight a rematch against Raymundo Beltran to clear up the mess from their fight last September that ended in a 12 round draw in Glasgow.

Many fans thought Beltran had done enough to get the win, but the judges had it as a draw. Burns suffered a broken jaw in the fight, and he really couldn’t do a lot after the 2nd round due to the pain. He feels that without that injury happening he would have beaten Beltran in a convincing manner.

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Golovkin thinks Khan will give Mayweather problems

khan#3 khan#3 WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin believes that Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s), who has lost 2 out of his last 4 fights, will give Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) a lot of problems with his talent, and he feels this is a good fight for business. Golovkin thinks Mayweather will struggle with Khan for some reason, and he’s very interested in seeing this fight. And what’s interesting is that Golovkin thinks the boxing public will want to see Mayweather fight Khan.

“It’s a good fight for everybody,” Golovkin said to Hustleboss “Amir Khan is a good boxer, he has good speed; not an easy fight for Floyd. It’s good [for] business. Yes [it’s a marketable fight]. You know Floyd is No.1 in the world, but Amir Khan has a lot of fans. It’s a good fight for box, for sport, for business.”

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Lucas Browne Happy To Accept Fury Challenge

HAMMER-FISTED Aussie contender Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne is happy to step up to the challenge offered by Tyson Fury on Twitter.

The giant Englishman recently used the micro blogging site to set out the names on his wish list for 2014.

Browne was mentioned alongside Deontay Wilder, Dereck Chisora and Roy Jones Jnr and say he would gladly accept if the fight was offered to him.

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5 Fighters to Watch in 2014

crawford1111 2013 will go down as one of the best years of boxing in recent history. Thanks to big fights, big shocks and big knockouts, fight fans got everything they could have wanted in 2013.

Floyd Mayweather took on young pretender Saul Alvarez in a genuine super fight, Carl Froch participated in two legendary fights, whilst new stars such as Mikey Garcia, Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson made themselves certified stars of modern day boxing. Finally, the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux, Jhonny Gonzalez and Marcos Maidana each pulled off stunning upsets that switched up boxing’s hierarchy.

2014 looks to continue in the same manner. Floyd Mayweather is set to fight twice again this year, whilst the retirements of Vitali Klitschko and David Haye mean new faces will compete for titles in the heavyweight division this year. With a crowd of faces joining and dropping out of the 2013 pound-for-pound rankings who will be the ones to make waves this year? Here are five fighters to watch in 2014.

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Pacquiao won’t get Mayweather fight until he changes promoters, says Showtime’s Espinoza

pac78311 Showtime President of Sports Stephen Espinoza doesn’t have a lot of faith than we’ll be seeing a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in he near future unless Pacquiao bites the bullet and chooses to leave Top Rank. Espinoza sees that as being the issue that is keeping the fight between Manny and Floyd from taking place. Espinoza has no doubts in his mind that Mayweather would take the fight with Pacquiao immediately.

Espinoza could be right. If Pacquiao was with Golden Boy Promotions are some other promotional company instead of Top Rank, he’d probably agree to take the fight with him in a heartbeat. After all, it’s a fight that would give Mayweather a huge payday if he could get it. We just saw in his last fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez that Mayweather isn’t afraid to take on a tough opponent, if it means that he’s going to get a big payday out of the fight.

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Pascal: Kovalev is untested until he beats a champion

kovalev6 Former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal feels that WBO 175 lb. champion Sergey Kovalev (23-0-1, 21 KO’s) should be seen as an untested fighter until he beats an actual world champion to prove himself. To Pascal, he doesn’t know how good Kovalev is because he’s never been in with an opponent to where he could evaluate his talent level. Right now Pascal sees Kovalev as still having a question mark over his head about how good he is until he faces his first test at light heavyweight.

“On paper, he’s untested,” Pascal said to hustleboss. “Until he’s been tested, we’ll never know his real value. Until he beats a champion or a former champion or a decent champion who has been tested before, I don’ think he’s earned the right to be considered the guy in the division.”

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Anderson Silva vs. Roy Jones Jr. fight not looking good now with Silva’s injury

jones565 There had been talk of Roy Jones Jr. fighting former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a boxing match in what likely would have been a terrible mismatch due to Jones’ superior skills. However, the chances of a fight between Silva and Jones Jr. would seem remote at best at this time following Anderson Silva’s gruesome left leg injury he suffered last night against UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in UFC 168 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Silva attempted a leg kick with his left leg, but Weidman blocked it with his left knee causing Silva’s left shin to fold in two.

Silva reportedly suffered a broken tibia and fibula, and it’s expected to be at least 6 months before he recovers from the injury. The injury reminded me of how former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theisman suffered a broken left leg in November 1985 when he was tackled by New York Giants players Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson in a Monday night game.

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