Khan says Mayweather would have been easier foe than Canelo

Mar

Photo: Naoki Fukuda

Amir Khan has accomplished many things in his career but getting a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn’t one of them. For years, Khan chased Mayweather, calling him out, endlessly chastising him in an attempt to lure him in.

It didn’t work. Mayweather retired last September without ever giving Khan a chance. The 29-year-old Brit claims he’s finally moved on from Mayweather after securing a lucrative fight with Canelo Alvarez on May 7 in Las Vegas on HBO Pay-Per-View for Canelo’s RING and WBC middleweight titles. “I can forget about Floyd,” Khan said on Tuesday following a New York presser to hype his bout with Alvarez.

On occasion, Khan still talks about Mayweather as he did on Tuesday when Khan said facing Mayweather would have been an easier assignment than the stronger Alvarez.

“Physically and mentally, I think a Floyd fight probably would have been a little bit easier because Floyd is more technical,” he said. “It’s like a game of chess. That’s why it suits me better – hit and move and move in and out. Just stylistically. But this fight is more thinking and it’s more physical and it’s going to take a lot of strength.”

Khan, who turned pro at lightweight and has never fought above welterweight, predicts a difficult fight ahead of him at a catch-weight of 155 pounds. Khan’s toughness has never been questioned but the same can’t be said of his chin. “I’m going to have to dig deep in this fight,” he said. “There are going to come times when I get hit with shots and I have to think quick, or else the fight will be stopped, so I have to be very smart in this fight. I know that.”

At the same time, Khan believes his boxing skills and speed will serve him well on May 7. “I think you guys will see, when you compare my boxing skills to any other boxer like Mayweather, (Erislandy) Lara, a (Austin) Trout, it will give you a better understanding of how this fight is going to be. I really believe in my skills and my speed and my movement. I really believe that’s going to give him problems.”

Khan even went so far as to question Canelo’s power. “Is he really a big puncher as people make it out?” Khan said. “I mean, I’m thinking about this now. He hit Mayweather. Miguel Cotto got hit with clean shots. So I’m thinking if he’s really this dangerous, devastating puncher that I should be scared of? Time will tell.”

Khan said he weighed the pros and cons when he was offered the fight by Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya. “Before I took this fight, I had to think about it because I made a lot of money in my career,” Khan said. “I could leave now, so this is not for the money. This is just to make history and I really believe in myself. I’m not doing it for the money.”