Amir Khan has continued his narrative of trying to dictate the welterweight division and pick his next opponent, but realistically not everything is in his control.
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The 28-year-old went on Twitter on Sunday to reveal a wishlist of possible opponents, with Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, Timothy Bradley or the winner of Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao at Wembley in June on his radar.
However, there are various problems with all four fighters that are mentioned. Cotto is expected to make a voluntary defence of his middleweight title next, both Marquez and Bradley will want a title shot and Mayweather and Pacquiao may well decide on a rematch depending on the outcome of May 2.
In Khan’s defence, part of it is also the fact that these fighters will acknowledge and understand the threat that he poses, and that works against him as he is a high-risk, low-reward fight for many in the division.
Similarly to Devon Alexander, Khan would likely outclass them with his superior speed and improved defense after working with trainer Virgil Hunter, and it doesn’t make much sense for them to take him on.
The Bolton-born fighter is expected to announce his next outing next week and it may well be against either a Marquez or Bradley, but it certainly won’t be the break-out fight that will get the general public behind his campaign for the top fights.
Khan is deluded in the sense that he assumes he almost calls the shots in a division where he isn’t even a world champion. After his desperate attempt of securing a fight with Mayweather failed, he changed tact and suggested that he could face the winner as if he were the real prize.
Admittedly, personal belief is that he can actually beat Mayweather, but he has gone about it in all the wrong ways. Personally, there are two bouts in June that make sense and they are against either Kell Brook or Keith Thurman.
A showdown with Brook would give Khan a significant pay-day if nothing else, as that would sell Wembley out and would give him a chance at winning the IBF title, provided that Brook comes through against Jo Jo Dan on March 28.
If he were to win, that would put him in a strong position for a unification fight with either Mayweather or Pacquiao, the only other two champions in the division, although Thurman has the WBA ‘regular’ belt. With a world title and the profile that Brook lacks at this stage, Khan would almost be certain to get one of his top targets.
In contrast, both Khan and Thurman are in a similar position in the sense that many fighters aren’t particularly keen on facing them. However, by facing each other they would be able to make a real statement in the division and show that the hype is warranted for a bout with Mayweather or Pacquiao.
There’s nothing wrong with chasing the big fights in the sport against the biggest names out there, but Khan has to earn it by producing against a serious welterweight. Only then can he realistically sit back and think he has done everything possible to make a fight with the pound-for-pound greats instead of jumping the queue.
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