Khan wants Mayweather fight
The 28-year-old Khan, 30-3, also gave Mayweather, 37, a deadline, telling the Daily Mail that if Mayweather doesn’t step up and agree to fight, and sign to do so by the end of the coming week, he’ll withdraw his offer.
How that was supposed to get Mayweather to agree to meet Khan in the ring isn’t clear. “It’s a waiting game,” he said. “I’ve given his team five days. I need to know this week because I need to start training.”
He said that he’d done the things he claims Mayweather told him he had to do in order for Mayweather to agree to a fight. He fought at welterweight, he said, and beat a top guy in the division, former champ Devon Alexander.
“I want to fight in May and I want the Mayweather fight but it’s not getting any closer,’ Khan said. “There is a lot of money in a fight with me, not just in America, but he’s trying to avoid me. He’s avoiding two names in boxing, Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan.”
Therein may lie part of the problem as far as Mayweather is concerned: money. Only the popular fighters make the really big money and after Khan beat Alexander, Mayweather told media that “no one has heard of him (Khan)” and mocked the crowd he drew. “The other night I think he did 4,000 (attendance) so, Amir Khan, his name holds no weight.”
Mayweather added that “No one knows who Amir Khan is, except for people who are involved in boxing. My focus is Manny Pacquiao. Let’s make it happen.”
Mayweather wants Pacquiao fight
That’s the second half of the problem: Mayweather is close to signing to fight Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said he believes it’s going to happen soon, a boxing official said the contract could be signed in no more than 7 to ten days and boxing writer Dan Rafael tweeted that for the first time in six years he believes the superfight will happen.
So it’s likely the deadline Khan set won’t help, and neither will insulting Mayweather. But for the record, here’s what he said:
“Mayweather wants to keep his ‘0′, he doesn’t want to take the big fights. If he’s not fighting the top guys but is fighting guys who are over the hill or not at their peak, he’s going to be undefeated,” he said. “One thing about me is I’ve fought guys at their peak and who have been dangerous. I didn’t have to fight them but I did. Losing doesn’t make you a bad fighter, losing shows how good you are if you come back from those losses.”
Them is, as they say, fighting words…but don’t look for these two to fight anytime soon, if ever.
