The next name in the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight lottery has popped up and it's British superstar Amir Khan according to ESPN.co.uk.
Although the report states that neither side has confirmed the fight, other outlets are reporting similar stories surrounding Mayweather and Khan linking up next year.
BoxingRec.com has even gone as far as marking the fight in its database to take place on May 3, 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nev.
According to the ESPN.CO.UK report, Khan has quashed the idea of a proposed December 7 fight with IBF welterweight titlist Devon Alexander to secure Khan's spot with Mayweather, in case of a loss that would all but end Khan's hopes of a Mayweather showdown.
Khan has the fan base and the name to make a fight with Mayweather a commercial success, but with how Khan did against the two best fighters he’s faced—a split-decision loss to Lamont Peterson and a KO loss to Danny Garcia—, many will question if Khan deserves a shot at the pound-for-pound champ.
The biggest knock on Khan, despite only having three losses in 31 fights, is his “glass chin.”
Khan has been wobbled several times in fights and he came back to win most of those showing he does have heart. But the one fight that most still have in their mind is the KO loss to Danny Garcia.
The fight that was supposed to set Khan up for a Mayweather bout originally ended up being a nightmare for Khan, while Garcia emerged as a star.
Khan has solid boxing skill and when he fights smart he can dominate most fighters he is in the ring with. Once he strays from his game plan and even thinks about trading shots there is always the threat that Khan will meet the canvas.
Mayweather (45-0, 26 KOs) may just be the best counter puncher the sport of boxing has ever seen and even if Khan 28-3, 19 KOs) doesn’t decide to trade blows with Mayweather, there is a good chance that Mayweather will catch him at one point and test his chin.
To get some of the naysayers off his back, the wise decision would be to take the Alexander fight. If he is victorious then more buzz may surround the fight, as Alexander is not an easy fight by any means.
There are a few fighters that the majority of fans feel Mayweather should fight next instead of Khan and the most popular figure is Garcia.
Fresh off his dominating performance against the heavy-handed Lucas Matthysse as the co-feature of Mayweather-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez pay-per-view on Sept. 14, the thinking was that the bout was an audition to become Mayweather’s next foe. Mayweather has mentioned several times that he builds up fighters on his undercards to become stars then beats them once they’ve reached their peak.
The fact that Garcia (27-0, 16 KOs) shined on a Mayweather-headlined event and knocked Khan out himself, has many believing that there should be no way Khan should be even considered before Garcia.
Garcia is a rising name in the sport, but at this junction Khan is still a bigger name worldwide. However with another big win, Garcia will have the near star power Khan possesses.
Although not the greatest gauge of popularity, in the social media age the amount of followers someone has does hold some merit to one’s celebrity. Garcia has just over 72,000 followers on Twitter while Khan has amassed nearly 1.4 million on the popular social media site.
With the popularity of boxing overseas, pitting Khan against Mayweather would be huge not only in the United States, but Europe as well.
Add this to Mayweather’s plans of taking a boxing card to the UK, and maybe even headlining it himself in the future according to the Telegraph and a Khan bout makes sense as it will increase Mayweather’s popularity overseas even more.
No matter what fans and media alike may think, a Mayweather-Khan fight makes more sense than one might initially think.
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