Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images
In old news, Floyd Mayweather has announced he has two fights left in his career. In newer news, Amir Khan beat out Devon Alexander this past Saturday and now believes he has a shot with the king himself. Whether he actually deserves it or not is a different conversation.
Obviously, the only real fight that fans want to see at this point is the Money vs. PacMan fight. With that fantasy taking up one slot, we still have the second fight open. This is unless a Manny Pacquiao debut and rematch show occur, but let’s be realistic here.
There are a few good boxers that have proven themselves worthy of being considered by Mayweather, one of them being Danny Garcia. A big case for this fight is that Garcia has already fought and beaten Khan. Let’s not forget though that Khan had already beaten Marcos Maidana before Mayweather fought “El Chino.” Twice.
A problem with this fight is the weight class issue. The prospect of Mayweather coming down to meet Garcia is out of the question, and Garcia needs much more experience in a higher weight division before he steps in the ring with the top dog in boxing.
Miguel Cotto is another name being brought up in hopes for a rematch. After the Maidana rematch ended exactly how we all dreaded it would (12 long rounds resulting in an underwhelming UD), fans have wised up a bit to the rematch hype.
If Mayweather wants to remain “TBE” (at least in his eyes) then he’s going to have to fight new opponents.
We’re brought back to Khan at this point. Khan’s goal this past weekend was not to just win against Devon Alexander, but to look darn pretty while doing it.
Because, unfortunately, winning isn’t enough to get Floyd’s attention. When it comes down to it, if two men enter a ring, that means that one of those fighters walks out as the winner and the other as the loser. 50/50. There are plenty of winners out there, but only a few that work the win the right way to set themselves apart.
Mayweather is looking hard at which names are big enough to bring in the PPV numbers. Weird, since his own numbers are declining. Regardless, it seems that a fighter’s name means more to Floyd than the record itself.
Did Khan achieve this goal? Initially, my thoughts were no.
I was hoping to see something that resembled the Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri fight. Six knockdowns through the duration of 12 impressive rounds would showcase that Khan truly does know what he’s doing and deserves more respect.
We didn’t get the knockdowns, but we did get the 12 rounds.
A knockout finish would have been nice, and while that’s exciting, it’s not what Khan needed.
Let’s be honest, no one is going to be knocking out Floyd Mayweather, so exhibiting those skills doesn’t do much in the grand scheme of things. If you’re going to fight the pound-for-pound ruler, you’re going to be in that ring the full time.
Showing that Khan can go a smart, full 12 rounds is what he needed to prove in this fight. And he did. He fought a speed puncher with speedier punches, and not once did he magically transform into a toddler with a temper tantrum. He kept his head in the right spot. Mentally, at least.
Mayweather seems to have mixed feelings about the Brit. At first he was quoted giving credit to Khan, admitting that he was a pretty good fighter. Then, like an epiphany, Mayweather realized that he has been “a champion” this whole time, and now is focusing his publicity on Pacquiao.
Changing decisions over whether he wants to fight a boxer or not is pretty uncharacteristic for Mayweather. Oh, wait.
Khan on the other hand has been working the media, calling the king out almost non-stop since Saturday. His tactics include boasting his own skill set, announcing that he’d even fight Manny, and creating his own hashtag of #AK47-1. Cute.
May 2nd 2015 @FloydMayweather Lets Go! #Ak47-1
— Amir Khan (@AmirKingKhan) December 14, 2014
Regardless of whether we see the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight next year or not, there still is a second slot open, and a Mayweather vs. Khan fight could be an interesting one. I’d be into making AK47-1 a real thing.
