WBC silver welterweight champion and Bolton fighter Amir Khan believes an impressive performance against former 140 lb. champion Chris Algieri on Friday will leave Floyd Mayweather Jr. no choice but to fight him in a September clash.
But, he also knows a bad performance or any slight glitch is just enough for Mayweather to come up with an excuse not to fight him.
Khan, 28, has been chasing a Mayweather fight for over two years as he prepares to square off against Algieri in the American’s home turf in New York this week.
Khan wants a shot at Mayweather so badly, he even hired Mayweather’s promoter Al Haymon in April 2014 to make his dream happen.
It seemed that Khan became disenchanted with his long-time promotional partner, Golden Boy Promotions, which had advised him to not take a fight with former IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander and pursue a fight with Mayweather, which did not transpire.
If Khan is never able to land a fight with Mayweather, it could be seen as an epic failure on his behalf.
Okay, so maybe that’s a bit harsh, but given that Golden Boy Promotions’ history of promoting fights with Mayweather, you would think that they would have some leverage over Haymon, who has been accused of purposefully making fights solely to protect his clients.
Speaking with Daily Star, Khan believes the Mayweather camp is playing the waiting game, hoping that he has a sub-par performance against Algieri.
“They are hoping I have a bad performance. They are waiting for a bad fight from me, so they can turn around and say ‘we knew you were not good enough.’
“Everyone they put to me, I’ve answered all the questions. I’ve beaten them in good fashion. So, I think this is their last hope now.
“They’re thinking Chris Algieri has a style which doesn’t make people look good. Maybe with Amir Khan, they’re hoping he might give me a few problems and make the fight look messy, and then they can say, your fight wasn’t good enough to fight Mayweather next.’
“That’s the way they are thinking because deep down, they don’t want the fight,” said Khan.
Mayweather plans to have one more fight on September 13 before hanging up the gloves for the third time in his professional career, which could be a problem for Khan’s chances to land a fight, as he is pushing for a mid-September date so his preparation wouldn’t be hampered by Ramadan, which ends in July this year.
Roger Mayweather, Floyd’s uncle and co-trainer, has stated that the team is looking at a rematch with Manny Pacquiao as ‘Plan A’ and a fight with Amir Khan as ‘Plan B.’
With former eight-division world champion Pacquiao out for nine months to a year following successful surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, this could propel Khan into the ‘Plan A’ spot, unless Mayweather finds an alternative.
Mayweather’s father and trainer – Floyd Sr – has stated Khan would be an easy victory for his son.
However, Khan revealed that Mayweather Sr. had trained him at one point, and told him that he would be the first man to defeat his son, who is unbeaten in 48 fights.
“Deep down, it’s just them telling themselves that it would be an easy fight because deep down they know it would probably be the toughest fight he will have in his career.
“They are just trying to fool themselves by saying these things. They know it will be a tough fight, and they never talk about any fighter like this who they are not fighting.
“If they think it is an easy fight, which they know will bring them a lot of money from the UK and around the world, then why not take it?
“I would cause him big problems. Floyd Sr. has every respect for me.
“When he trained me one time he said, ‘you’ll be the guy to beat my son.’ Now, he’s turning around and saying I would be no contest for his son; I’m no good.
“I’m really fed up with it. Have we ever heard them talk so much about any other fighter?
Prior to the May 2nd clash with Pacquiao, the Mayweather camp was involved in similar antics for years with the Pacquiao camp before finally the fight was made. Mayweather went on to defeat Pacquiao by unanimous decision. This could be the same scenario.
The Daily Star reached out to Mayweather Sr. for his comments relating to Khan’s claims and he responded by calling Khan a ‘liar’ among other things.
“He’s a liar and that’s the biggest lie on the planet. I had a meeting with Khan at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas in 2006. He gave me an autographed book about his life and his time in the Olympics. We had a meeting, and he wanted me to train him,” Mayweather recalled. “Amir Khan was accompanied by his dad, and he wanted to be trained by me, but it never happened. I never trained him. He ended up going with Freddie ‘The Joke Coach’ Roach.”
Fight Hype also reached out to Mayweather and got a similar response.
“I never ever said that he could beat my son. I never eve said that any man alive could beat my son. Amir Khan has a glass haw. He’s not good enough, nor is anybody on the planet good enough to beat my son. He just wants to get a payday before it’s all over with. That’s the only way he’ll be able to live comfortable like he wants to live. If he’s going to continue to tell lies, keep in mind, that’s how lawsuits happen,” Mayweather Sr. added.
Following Floyd Mayweather’s split-decision victory over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, Mayweather Sr. said that Oscar had beaten his son if you ‘went by the points system.’
Khan wants the fight, and he knows that this will be his last chance of meeting that goal, adding that the Mayweather camp knows it.
“They know how much I want this fight,” said Khan.
Initially, Khan ruled a September fight with Mayweather as a no-go because of Ramadan, but he knows that this is a special exception.
“This will be my last chance.
“I’ve done everything I’ve been asked to do and what he’s asked me to do. I’ve had a few fights at 147 and proved myself.
“If it doesn’t happen in September, then I don’t think it will ever happen. I’m not even going to get my hopes up for September; I’m just going to stay focused on Chris Algieri.
“I need to look good in this fight. Anything can happen in this fight. Everyone can have good or bad days, and I just need to make sure I have a good day.
“If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, then there are other fights out there.”
