Amir Khan stood in the middle of the media center at the MGM Grand just outside of the Garden Arena as he answered question after question from reporters. The former junior welterweight champion now fighting at welterweight riffled off timely responses as he seemed poised to get the big fight he has been lobbying for.
Khan made it no secret that he would like Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather next. When asked about rumors that Khan may have gotten the better of the sparring from his time under the tutelage of Freddie Roach where he frequently sparred Pacquiao Khan answered. “Sparring is a little different than fighting, I respect Manny a lot, looking at his last two performances I have [seen] a lot of flaws there and it would be a very competitive fight. Speed vs. speed.”
As for Mayweather and his performance last Saturday against Marcos Maidana, Khan had some choice words. “All I can say is if Mayweather fought me the way he fought today, I would’ve beat him.”
Khan is currently without a fight booked and it is unclear whether he will return to the ring before the end of 2014. A super-fight between newly crowned IBF Welterweight Champion Kell Brook in the United Kingdom seems off the table as Brook was recently stabbed while on vacation. The potential suitors for a Khan fight in the fourth quarter of 2014 are Robert Guerrero, Keith Thurman, Josesito Lopez, Devon Alexander and Leonardo Bundu.
It appears that Khan will probably take a fight that best pushes him into a big fight in 2015, so a bout between either Josesito Lopez, which was rumored to be in works first reported by Steve Kim, or Leonardo Bundu seem to be the front runners for a November/December type card that could take place in California. One thing is for sure, Khan is now closer than ever to that ideal fight that he has been looking for his whole career and it appears that he doesn’t want to risk his position in the rankings for now.
