Amir Khan can disrupt Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s fight plans, too
If things go Amir Khan’s way, he’ll have an opportunity to tweak with Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s fight schedule, too.
Not only does Khan say that he doesn’t believe he’ll be available for Mayweather’s next planned fight date in September, but the former junior-welterweight world champion also claims that he can defeat Luis Collazo, another candidate believed to be in consideration for the Mayweather bout.
It could be a bit of payback for Britain’s Khan, who pulled out of a planned December 2013 fight against Devon Alexander in anticipation of a match-up with Mayweather, but was passed over in favor of welterweight world champion Marcos Maidana for the May 3 pay-per-view fight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Mayweather is heavily favored to beat Maidana and remain unbeaten.
Khan beat Maidana by decision in the 2010 fight of the year, but has lost two of his last four bouts, to unbeaten Danny Garcia and a split-decision to Lamont Peterson.
Now the primary undercard fighter to Mayweather-Maidana on May 3, Khan (28-3, 19 knockouts) will enter the ring against Collazo for the first time since April
27, 2013.
“I thought I was next, but he chose Maidana,” Khan said of Mayweather. “I was upset because it took a long time waiting for him, and I was left standing on the floor, left to carry on.
“He isn’t trustworthy. I felt I was promised the fight in a way, then to have to start all over …. ”
Now comes the chance to spoil Mayweather’s plans. Khan may very well boost his stock to the level Mayweather desires by beating ex-welterweight world champion Collazo (35-5, 18 KOs), who knocked out former Mayweather opponent Victor Ortiz in January.
“It’s a tough, exciting fight,” Khan said. “It’s all about putting a good performance on, and I think I have all the tools to beat him.”
Yet, Khan, a Muslim, said that despite being showcased on the Mayweather card he couldn’t be ready to fight in September due to the religious commitments of Ramadan. Mayweather has said he wants his next bout to coincide with the popular Mexican Independence Day holiday.
“Ramadan is going to be this summer, so I’d need like the whole of July off,” Khan said. “It’d be difficult to get that fight.”
He said his fight schedule would be better suited to fight again in November.
“What I’m going to do is put on that good performance, win the fight, then we’ll see what’s available out there,” Khan said.
Khan, 27, said he hasn’t languished during the break from fighting, spending abundant time with trainer Virgil Hunter in the Bay Area.
“This long layoff has not really been that,” Khan said. “I’ve been in the gym, working hard, working with Virgil to enhance my style. I’ve been spending time … improving myself, better understanding what I’m doing, trying new strategies, working with different sparring partners. It’s helped.”
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Twitter: @latimespugmire
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