by James Slater – It almost seems as though Manchester’s John Murray has been pursuing a fight with Amir Khan as long as “Sugar” Shane Mosley has been after one with Manny Pacquiao, if not longer. The two British stars, if they met, would surely produce a great Battle of Britain type affair, but lightweight champ Murray has so far been unable to lure WBA light-welterweight champ Khan into the ring. The 24-year-old has not given up yet, though, and neither has his promoter, Mick Hennessey..
Earlier this week, Khan’s promoter, Frank Warren, told Murray the fight was “dead in the water now,” due to Murray being sent an offer but not responding to it.
“They had their opportunity and they didn’t even respond to it,” Warren was quoted as saying in The Manchester Evening News. “He [Murray] was on the list.”
However, in a later issue of The Manchester Evening News, rival promoter Hennessey said something different – claiming Warren’s offer wanted no less than four options on Murray.
“Options have always been a problem,” Hennessey said. “We are interested, but not with four options. We said we will do the fight and we will give them a rematch clause.”
So, does Warren want an unfair deal? Or Have Team-Murray missed the boat due to their own failure to get back to Khan’s promoter in time? It’s likely the argument, as to who is ducking who, will continue, but Murray says he is still hopeful of landing the big fight he is sure he would win. However, the British champion, who won very impressively against Jon Thaxton this past Saturday, is also keen to take on interim WBO 135-pound champion Michael Katsidis.
It’s 22-year-old Khan he really relishes the idea of facing though.
“It’s a fight I’ve been after for a few years now,” Murray said. “I’ve said that Amir Khan has not even taken care of Greater Manchester yet, never mind the world. I’m up for it. He says he’s up for it, but it keeps not happening.”
In an ideal world, the two would have met by now, back when Khan was boxing at lightweight. And even though Murray would be willing to jump up to 140 to land the lucrative fight, don’t bet on it happening.
Khan, of course, is set to face mandatory challenger Dmitriy Salita in December, and who knows, he could come unstuck there. If not, he will likely have to face Marcos Maidana, the interim WBA 140-pound champ after that.
Both Murray and Khan, as exciting as they are, look as though they will continue to go separate ways; much to the displeasure of the fans.