Frustrated about having failed to land a lucrative fight against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, Khan grabbed the opportunity to face Alvarez for a career record purse, provided he moves two steps up in weight to 160 pounds from his natural fighting weight of 147.
Khan’s loss to Alvarez was expected as he struggled on the scale to meet his contractual obligation. While he failed to put up his defense for Alvarez’s knockout punch, he was visibly slower compared to his movements in his previous fights, though he did pretty well in the rounds leading to the knockout in the sixth round.
Veteran trainer Robert Garcia believes Khan will be able to bounce back provided he moves down to 147 where he is more comfortable fighting.
“There are some fighters who get knocked out once and never recover from that and are never able to be the same. Khan is one that recovers and stay healthy, maybe stays in the gym and maybe that’s probably the reason.. I have no idea, but he recovers well. So I think Khan still has some good fights, especially if he comes down to welterweight – he still has a lot of big fights out there,” Garcia said.
There are at least eight prospective foes for Khan in the 147 pounds limit including a possible rematch with Danny Garcia, who knocked him out in 2012. They include Kell Brook, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Tim Bradley, Errol Spence and Jessie Vargas, among others.
Before losing to Alvarez, the 29-year-old Briton turned down Kell Brook‘s call for a title fight in the UK, saying Brook wasn’t on his level yet. But now Khan seems to insinuate that he is interested to talk about a possible fight.
“I don’t know if he wants a bit of attention talking about MMA,” Brook told IBTimes UK at The Dorchester in London. “He’s said that he hates me, that he wants to fight me… You know, he’s not on my mind,” he said.
“Like I said, I want that fight for the fans. But I don’t need him. I’ve got Triple G and there are other massive fights out there. So if he wants to let the fans down, don’t fight,” he added.
Khan could be looking at another fight before the end of the year and is scouting for a possible opponent. Brook is definitely out for a fight within the year as he is set to face Gennady Golovkin on Sept. 10.
WBC welterweight titlist Danny Garcia hasn’t fought since January and fans would certainly welcome a rematch. Khan has talked about chasing Garcia last June but nothing has been discussed so far. Both Khan and Garcia are managed or advised by Al Haymon.
