Amir Khan has been seeking to live up to his "King" monicker by bidding to box Floyd Mayweather Jr., and according to Khan himself, he is on his way to securing that opportunity soon.
According to a report on SportingLife.com on Dec. 16, Khan believes an agreement is imminent between his camp and Mayweather's, and that an announcement will come "within the next couple of weeks."
Martin Domin of the Daily Mail reports that the fight would take place in Mayweather's preferred Las Vegas environment on May 3, 2014.
This creates an interesting path not only for Khan, but it will also have a ripple effect on the rest of the boxing landscape if this bout indeed does materialize.
As reported by BoxingNews247.com's Eric Thomas, newly crowned WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana was hoping to get a shot at Mayweather. Maidana will likely have to wait now despite knocking off previously undefeated Adrien Broner in a dominant, 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday.
Khan was meant to square off with Devon Alexander on Dec. 7, but he opted to not do that fight in favor of a prospective battle with Mayweather, per an Oct. 7 report by the Daily Mirror's David Anderson.
All indications are that Khan's bold course of action is going to plan.
Per the SportingLife.com report, the 27-year-old Khan has been encouraged by magnificent wins by underdogs in recent high-profile fights, with Maidana's being the most recent:
Boxing's all over the place at the moment with all the underdogs coming through to win. Porter was the underdog against Alexander then Broner was beaten and knocked down by Maidana. It's the time of the underdogs. If I get the fight against Mayweather I have no doubt I can go and take it.
Having confidence will be key in facing the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in Mayweather, who did profess his respect for Khan but felt he would still win as he has in all 45 of his previous bouts, per Domin:
Amir Khan, I think he’s a young, strong champion...Every time out, the guy comes and fights. If he is the guy, then he’s the guy. There’s nothing I can do but go out there and execute the game plan and dedicate myself to my craft, which is boxing.
...For 17 years they've been putting guys in front of me, and I've been beating them. Come May they'll put a guy in front of me, I'll go to training camp, work hard, and the results will be the same.
If the Mayweather-Khan bout does take place this coming May, it will have been 13 months since Khan last competed against Julio Diaz, where he overcame a fall to the canvas to win a 12-round unanimous decision. That boosted his overall record to 28-3.
There will be no shortage of time for Khan to prepare, and he feels that it will give him an edge, as documented by the SportingLife.com report.
The break has been so good for me because over the last few years I've been training or fighting all the time and this time I've focused on building my relationship with Virgil. Next time I go into camp I'm going to know exactly what I'm doing with him. I've already been working on correcting the mistakes I've made in the past, so you're only going to see an improvement.
Khan's trainer, Virgil Hunter, will indeed have his work cut out for him to prepare for the Mayweather showdown if it is as close to happening as is expected.
It is important for Khan to work on his weaknesses, because the technical prowess of Mayweather tends to expose his foes' shortcomings at any given moment in the ring.
This development not only extinguishes the potential for Mayweather to indirectly avenge Broner's loss by taking on Maidana, but it also would put off the dream super-fight between Money May and Manny Pacquiao.
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