Amir Khan on Mayweather: ‘He is undefeated and I want to be the one to defeat him’

Amir Khan, the former two-time light-welterweight champion, has his sights set on a dream fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr next year.

The British boxer will not fight again this year after a bout against the IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander failed to materialise. Khan says he will spend the rest of the year focusing on training and hoping for the possibility of a box-office bout against Mayweather.

Alexander suggested that Khan pulled out of the proposed fight – Dubai was considered as the host site – because he considered the American a threat to his career and potentially damaging to his chances of landing a future fight against Mayweather.

“It’s not true that I cancelled the fight because I did not want to face him, but the negotiations between our teams did not end with an agreement,” Khan said.

“Devon decided to fight Shawn Porter instead [in Texas on Saturday] and my team and I decided it’s best I don’t fight this year, but rather work on my training. I have been working very hard with [trainer] Virgil Hunter, improving myself as a better fighter.”

Khan, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist whose professional record is 28-3, currently fights at the 140lbs (63.5kg) light-welterweight division. He will have to move up to welterweight (147lbs) or possibly the light-middleweight (154lbs) class to fight Mayweather.

“I agree it will be a disadvantage for me to a certain point, and on paper, as I have not fought a fight at this weight,” he said. “I wanted to fight Devon Alexander this year. But I feel 147lbs or 154lbs is my natural weight.

“I have struggled to keep 140lbs and I should’ve moved to 147lbs a long time ago.

“But I feel fit and strong so far at 147. I have been training very hard for the past 8-10 weeks. My next fight will be in May 2014, and I hope it’s against Mayweather.

“My team are working to make this happen, but I am not focusing on it. My aim is to focus on my training and get as fitter and stronger as I can.”

After Manny Pacquiao beat Brandon Rios last week, Khan’s former trainer Freddie Roach, now with Pacquiao, suggested the Filipino fighter would be a far more lucrative pay-per-view (PPV) draw if paired with Mayweather. Khan disagrees.

“I have a lot of respect for Freddie and Manny, he is a good friend of mine,” Khan said. “For sure, Manny is a very popular fighter in the US and around the world, but so am I. I am a Muslim Pakistani-British and there are a lot of Muslims in the US and around the world, and Muslims always support a fellow Muslim.

“I am very grateful to have amazing support in Britain and among Asians around the world. I would say Mayweather, Manny and myself are the most popular boxers in the game. I mean, you can tell that from our Twitter followers. That says it all.”

Mayweather is two bouts into a six-fight, US$300 million (Dh1.1 billion) contract with US broadcaster Showtime. It was rumoured that Showtime actually lost money on the PPV sales from the first fight in the contract, May’s bout against Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Therefore, they might want to pair Mayweather with a high-profile opponent for his next fight.

“I can say, there are only two fighters who can get in the PPV revenue, that is myself or Manny,” Khan said. “I am fast, I am a kind of fighter Mayweather has never faced. It’s not [just] me, but the whole world wants to see this fight happen, they want to see if Mayweather can stand in the ring and fight a fighter as fast as me or Manny.

“I am very confident that I can give him some real trouble. He defends well, but he has never defended against someone as fast as me. My hand speed and power will beat him.”

Khan would consider taking on former sparring partner Pacquiao, which some fans would argue is a more exciting fight on paper.

“Manny is a great fighter, he is a good friend, you never know, I never say no to anyone,” Khan said. “If it’s possible, I will fight Manny.

“Mayweather is the top fighter, he is undefeated and I want to be the one to defeat him, and with my speed, I can cause him some real trouble. Now it’s up to him and his team to come forward and set it up.”

Before the Alexander fight was shelved, Khan said he wanted to stage the fight in Dubai. In July, he said he thought the UAE could follow the path of Las Vegas and become a global boxing destination. The last high-profile bout in the UAE was in 1997, when former super middleweight king Chris Eubank beat Camilo Alarcon at Dubai’s tennis stadium.

“Boxing is a global sport, we saw Manny and Rios had a successful fight in China, it’s an exciting sport,” he said. “It has never been to the Middle East in such a big scale [as the Pacquiao fight], so if that could be possible, I would want to fight in Dubai.

“I wanted to fight Devon Alexander in Dubai, but he and his team did not agree to it, so that did not happen, but you never know in the future.”

sports@thenational.ae