Last week Amir ‘King’ Khan gave Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather a five-day ultimatum to accept a fight, with the Brit threatening to look elsewhere for a bout in May.
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Khan proved his pedigree by dismantling American Devon Alexander last month but in order to get the Las Vegas showdown he so dearly desires, he must prove his marketability outside the ring to Mayweather.
Mayweather’s gleaming record of 47/47 gives him the privilege of choosing only the most lucrative opponents to fight and at present, a bout (that has been talked about for years) with Manny Pacquiao would bring in a lot more money than one with Khan. Five days came and went and it looks as if the two-time world champion will have to switch to plan B: a welterweight title fight against Filipino Pacquiao.
Bolton-born Khan believes that a fight with Pacquiao in Dubai would perfectly fit both of their needs since it would be followed by the large community of Filipino and British expatriates in the Middle East, while giving Mayweather no option but to fight the winner.
Khan and Pacquiao used to share the same coach in Freddie Roach and share a friendship outside the ring that some think would make a fight between the two awkward.
“Boxing is business and this would be a big fight,” Khan, who was praised for a dramatic improvement in his technique against Alexander – thanks to new coach Virgil Hunter, tells Sport360. “I like Freddie and I like Manny but it would be a huge fight that could possibly happen in Dubai. We need to have a big fight in the UAE and this could be it.”
Khan says that he doesn’t understand why Mayweather will not take the fight with him as he has proved himself in the ring and believes there is no question their fight would be financially rewarding.
“I don’t know why Floyd won’t fight me. Is he running scared? It can’t be that he won’t take enough money because look what we would bring to the table,” Khan says.
“The whole of Asia and the huge UK boxing market mean that financially, this would be a big fight. There are no more excuses and I don’t even see his fight with Pacquiao happening as Floyd clearly wants to avoid the guys that could give him problems.”
There is one person in boxing however that has the power to make the fight happen. His name is Al Haymon and he is the long term advisor to Mayweather and more recently Khan. Haymon is rarely seen and never interviewed but has built a reputation as the most influential man in boxing, largely through his management of Mayweather.
“Haymon is trying to get the fight to happen but Mayweather obviously has the final say,” Khan tells Sport360. “Haymon will tell him that I am a good fighter and that it would be a good fight for the both of us. Al has played an important in my career and has supported me and has done great things for me but we really need him to push Mayweather and see what he can do.”
When not training or promoting potential title fights, Khan spends his time working with his Amir Khan Foundation and recently undertook a humbling trip to the site of the atrocities in Peshawar where 132 children at a school were massacred. Khan believes the work keeps him grounded and makes him focus on what is important in life.
“I was very disappointed with what I saw when I went there. I saw bullet-holes and blood on the wall that had stained there. I couldn’t believe that ten days before I got there it was all still standing and over 300 children have now died which is sickening,” he says.
“I wanted to go there and show my respects, meet the families and give the kids the motivation to go back to school. Through the Amir Khan Foundation I do a lot of work with orphans and young kids because the youth is the future. The atrocities happened in a secure area of Pakistan and the kids are going to be scared so I want the kids to have confidence to go back.”
Media training today went great. Lots of Dubai and pakistan media turned up. We gotta fight in dubai soon!
— Amir Khan (@AmirKingKhan) January 15, 2015
Martial Arts are becoming increasingly popular in the UAE with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts company) staging two events in Abu Dhabi in the last five years and Khan now wants to capitalize on this growing Middle Eastern market. He is setting up Amir Khan Academies in Dubai and Pakistan in the hope that these countries might find a fighting champion of their own.
“There is a huge market out here for it and we want to set up some more global franchises like the ones in the UK,” he says. “I am currently in talks with the Sheikh of Ajman to get something set up in Dubai and also in Pakistan. There are a lot of people out here who want Amir Khan Academies so I am starting to work towards building franchises out here.”
