LAS VEGAS — Amir Khan dazzled in Las Vegas at the weekend – and not only thanks to his 175,000-dirham, 24-carat gold shorts. The Bolton welterweight outclassed Devon Alexander with a scintillating performance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena – and he now says he is ready to face Floyd Mayweather Junior. Khan’s next outing is scheduled for May, so who could be in the opposite corner?
– Khan easily outpoints Alexander in Las Vegas showdown
– Manny Pacquiao happy to chase ‘boring’ Floyd Mayweather
– Mehdi Baghdad hoping to inspire other Arab MMA fighters
FLOYD MAYWEATHER:
There is no doubting that Khan has now become a credible opponent after his two impressive victories as a welterweight, the one in May against Luis Collazo and now this. But there is a danger that Khan actually looked too good against Alexander. Mayweather is visibly slowing down, although he retains his masterful defensive skills, his legs are not what they were and even the sometimes one-dimensional Marcos Maidana – who Khan has already beaten – had some success against ‘Money May’.
The 37-year-old is 47-0 and seemingly obsessed with staying undefeated and beating Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record in order to truly proclaim himself The Best Ever or ‘TBE’ as he puts it. If he wants to do that, he might think twice about testing himself against the blurring speed of Khan.
MANNY PACQUIAO:
What might scupper Khan’s chances of a May 2 showdown with Mayweather is that the American is now adamant he finally wants to fight Manny Pacquiao on that date. History tells us that both men saying they want the fight means absolutely nothing, but there is no denying the encounter that looked destined to never happen has now emerged as a possibility. But if it falls through again, and the likelihood is that May will come around too quickly, Pacquiao too will be on the lookout for an alternative opponent.
Britain’s @AmirKingKhan retains the WBC Silver Welterweight Belt tonight, congratulations! #KhanAlexander pic.twitter.com/FXen2mug7Y
— GoldenBoyPromotions (@GoldenBoyBoxing) December 14, 2014
Khan and the Filipino legend have history, after both working under the tutelage of Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym. In fact the coach has annoyed Khan by claiming that his guy floored the Brit ‘at least four times’ during their sparring sessions. Khan insists that is not the case – and that it was he who bossed the rounds with Pacquiao. Either way, it’s an easily sellable fight that would earn both guys good money.
DANNY GARCIA:
Khan threw a bit of a curveball during his post-fight press conference at the MGM by admitting that he craves a rematch with the current unified light-welterweight champion Danny Garcia. Khan was brutally stopped by the hard-hitting Philedelphian, who was behind on the score cards but caught the Englishman with a savage left hook from which he could not recover.
Khan has moved up in weight since that fight in July 2012 and there are rumours that Garcia is looking to step up to 147lbs too. If so, Khan will welcome him to the division with open arms. He said: “It’s a fight that I would love to have. We all know the mistakes I made against him and I think it would be an amazing fight again. I was winning the fight comfortably but I made mistakes. I was with Freddie Roach then but you can all see the improvements I’ve made under Virgil Hunter.” The problem is, a showdown with Garcia represents the least lucrative of his major options and there is no belt up for grabs.
KELL BROOK:
Following the Wembley extravaganza between Carl Froch and George Groves in front of 80,000 people in May, an all-British clash against undefeated IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook would tick all the boxes for Khan. Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn was in attendance at the MGM and revealed to Sport360 that they have already booked Wembley for June 13th, with a Khan-Brook megafight in mind.
The welterweight pair have never liked each other and their bad blood in the build-up would make this fight as intriguing as any other. Not only could this be the most lucrative fight for Khan, once all the ticket money and pay-per-view is accounted for, but it also represents a straight-forward shot at one of the major titles.
WHAT NEXT FOR ALEXANDER?
It is always difficult to foresee the next step when a boxer is so badly outclassed in such a big fight, especially when it means he has now lost two out of three. But the good news is that Alexander remains in the busiest division in the sport – you only had to look at the two cards that took place in Vegas over the weekend to see that.
All the best to @TheRealDevonA you are at that that level where a loss doesn’t really make a big difference, you will bounce back champ!
— Amir Khan (@AmirKingKhan) December 14, 2014
As well as him and Khan, Timothy Bradley and Diego Chaves drew while, on the undercard at the MGM, young Keith Thurman maintained his unbeaten record by outpointing Leonard Bundu. That is not to mention Shawn Porter, who beat Alexander for his title then lost it to Brook, who is also rebuilding. Alexander chose not to do a post-fight press conference, which is never a good sign when trying to gauge just how badly demoralised a fighter is by defeat. But, at 27, and after only 29 fights, the good news for ‘The Great’ is that there are a number of routes back to the top.
