AMIR KHAN: "NO BOXER, TO THIS DAY, HAS BOXED ME AND BEAT ME...FLOYD WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HURT ME"
By Ben Thompson | October 02, 2014
BT: Amir, what's poppin' with you brotha?
AK: Good, good. I'm going into the second week now for training, so yeah man, I'm doing alright brotha; just keeping myself busy. We're looking at December 6th as the date, I heard that from Al, and we're looking at a few opponents at the moment. I mean, no idea who yet. It's just like what Sam Watson said. There's people saying they'll fight me, but when it comes to signing that contract, they're not to be seen. Look, I'm one of them fighters I'll fight anyone. My main goal is to get that big fight against Mayweather because I really believe that with speed and explosiveness and movement and power, I think it will give him a lot of problems. I don't think he's ever fought a style like mine, so everything I'm doing is working up to that big fight with Floyd.
BT: You were at Floyd's rematch with Maidana. Obviously you made some comments after the fight, basically saying Floyd looked old and ripe for the picking. What exactly did you see in that performance that leads you to believe that?
AK: Well look, I'm a big fan of Floyd and I think Floyd's one of the best fighters out there. I was watching him and I was noticing a few things that he was not doing before. Like, you know, he was dropping his hands a little bit more and he was staying in the pocket a little bit too long. His feet were not moving as efficient as they normally move. They weren't as quick. And he was throwing a lot of single punches, whereas before, there was a lot of combinations being thrown by him. I mean, some fighters can overnight turn old. If I was fighting Maidana that day, I think I would've done things a lot different.
BT: Do you think the Maidana who fought Floyd was a different fighter than the Maidana you fought or did he look pretty much the same to you?
AK: Yeah, I think he was the same, you know, a come forward type of fighter. I think when he fought me, he was working the body a little bit more as well. I mean, when I fought him, he was ruthless, one of them come forward fighters, but since me, I think he's been beaten once or twice before, so maybe Floyd has seen a blueprint and he knew how he could be beaten, whereas when I fought him, he only just lost to Andriy Kotelnik, which a lot of people thought he won that fight, so in a way, I had him when he was high. But when Floyd was fighting, at least Floyd had myself, who had beaten him, Alexander, who had beaten him, and also people like Josesito Lopez, who had given him a lot of problems, so then he had like a little bit of a blueprint and thought, "Wait a minute! I think I know how to get this guy out easier and make this easy." Plus you have to remember, Maidana had been in a lot of wars. But I take my hat off, you know, he put on a great fight and I was very impressed the way he fought, not really once, but both times.
BT: I know you said you're still looking at opponent for that December date. In order to get that fight with Floyd, do you feel like you have to fight a certain type of opponent in order to make a statement and convince, not just fans, but maybe Floyd as well that you should definitely be next?
AK: Whoever it is in December, I think it's still going to lead to a fight with Floyd because there's so much talk about it. Plus, I think Floyd needs somebody to get them [pay-per-view] numbers high. If you look at his last few fights, they've been quite low, apart from the Canelo fight, and I think he needs someone who can speak english well, who's quite intelligent, you know, who the fans are going to love. I'm a people's champion. People like me. People like my exciting style. People want to see me in against Floyd because they think I have a different, unique style to people that Floyd has fought before. Plus, All Access, with me around, won't be boring like Maidana's or Robert Guerrero's or anyone. I'm a fun guy. Like in the UK, I'll give you an example, whenever there's fights there, they do like a All Access in the UK, I'm normally the Floyd Mayweather of the UK, so it's going to be good to have two top guys doing a show like that. There are things that I think I'll bring in and I think that's what is going to get a lot of viewers to watch this fight between me and Floyd Mayweather. Then they're going to look at us style-wise as well and they're gonna think, "Wait a minute! Style-wise, I think it's going to be another great fight because speed and explosiveness." No boxer, to this day, has boxed me and beaten me in boxing. I've beaten every boxer. I've lost in fights, I've been knocked down in fights, and I've made my own mistakes, but even before those knockouts, you know, I out-boxed the guys. When it comes to a boxing match, which I know against Floyd it will be a boxing match, Floyd will not be able to hurt me. It'll be a technical fight and I don't think there's anyone who can beat me when it comes to technique and skill and boxing. Look, time will tell and Floyd maybe knows that. I'm a skillful fighter and that's why I really think and I do believe that I'll give him problems because of my skills. But not only do I have the skills, I've got speed as well, you know, and since the Freddie Roach days, I think I'm a better fighter now under Virgil Hunter. He's planting things in my head. I've become a fighter who's more wiser and that's what it's all about, man.
BT: Do you think that's been missing in some of Floyd's recent fights; that strong personality that can maybe counter any trash talk and really help sell the fight?
AK: Every fight is different, but with me, I'm a fun guy. I'm a guy with a lot of luxuries. God's been kind. I mean, look, when you watch the All Access show, you look at it and you think Floyd's won already before the fight's happened. Personality, yeah, that's one thing I think is going to build the fight up if the fight with Floyd happens. I'm a people's champion. People wanna see a good guy win. I know my fan base, in certain areas, are going to be bigger or as big as Floyd Mayweather. In America, we've started to make a name for ourselves. In boxing, I think I'm the only hope now. I mean, who else is there? I don't see anyone. I think I'm the only hope to beat Floyd and what works for me is when it comes to a boxing fight, no one can touch Amir with the speed and exposiveness. When I mentioned that in the last fight, he looked a little old, but even if he was at his best, I still believe that I could beat Floyd Mayweather, so it's got nothing to do with him being old. I just got his number.
BT: So as far as you're concerned, you'd say you have the advantage over Floyd when it comes to both speed and boxing skills?
AK: 100%! 100%! I know I'm faster than him and then when it comes to a game of chess, I think that's when it comes to who's the smartest boxer out there, like I said, no one's beaten Amir when it comes to boxing.
BT: Hypothetically speaking, assuming all goes well in December, let's say Floyd says, "Okay Amir, let's do it," and he picks you to be his opponent in May. Do you foresee any issues with your promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, considering that he's made it clear that he wants to take back the May and September pay-per-view dates and he's looking to match Canelo with Miguel Cotto?
AK: I don't think it should affect us because, to be honest with you, you've got two superstars in boxing, and I've always said there's a hidden market there, the Pakistani, the Indian community, that can be huge in pay-per-view buys. We've never had a Pakistani or Indian fighter [fighting on pay-per-view], so when they see one of their own fighting, regardless if they know him or like him or not, they still would buy the fight because they'll be like, "Look, this is one of our guys." So I think when you've got two superstars against one, I think you know which show's going to win and who's going to get the bad numbers and stuff, even if it's on the same day.
http://fighthype.com/news/article18054.html
Im still of the belief Khan would be a better opponent against Floyd than Maidana was. I
By Ben Thompson | October 02, 2014
BT: Amir, what's poppin' with you brotha?
AK: Good, good. I'm going into the second week now for training, so yeah man, I'm doing alright brotha; just keeping myself busy. We're looking at December 6th as the date, I heard that from Al, and we're looking at a few opponents at the moment. I mean, no idea who yet. It's just like what Sam Watson said. There's people saying they'll fight me, but when it comes to signing that contract, they're not to be seen. Look, I'm one of them fighters I'll fight anyone. My main goal is to get that big fight against Mayweather because I really believe that with speed and explosiveness and movement and power, I think it will give him a lot of problems. I don't think he's ever fought a style like mine, so everything I'm doing is working up to that big fight with Floyd.
BT: You were at Floyd's rematch with Maidana. Obviously you made some comments after the fight, basically saying Floyd looked old and ripe for the picking. What exactly did you see in that performance that leads you to believe that?
AK: Well look, I'm a big fan of Floyd and I think Floyd's one of the best fighters out there. I was watching him and I was noticing a few things that he was not doing before. Like, you know, he was dropping his hands a little bit more and he was staying in the pocket a little bit too long. His feet were not moving as efficient as they normally move. They weren't as quick. And he was throwing a lot of single punches, whereas before, there was a lot of combinations being thrown by him. I mean, some fighters can overnight turn old. If I was fighting Maidana that day, I think I would've done things a lot different.
BT: Do you think the Maidana who fought Floyd was a different fighter than the Maidana you fought or did he look pretty much the same to you?
AK: Yeah, I think he was the same, you know, a come forward type of fighter. I think when he fought me, he was working the body a little bit more as well. I mean, when I fought him, he was ruthless, one of them come forward fighters, but since me, I think he's been beaten once or twice before, so maybe Floyd has seen a blueprint and he knew how he could be beaten, whereas when I fought him, he only just lost to Andriy Kotelnik, which a lot of people thought he won that fight, so in a way, I had him when he was high. But when Floyd was fighting, at least Floyd had myself, who had beaten him, Alexander, who had beaten him, and also people like Josesito Lopez, who had given him a lot of problems, so then he had like a little bit of a blueprint and thought, "Wait a minute! I think I know how to get this guy out easier and make this easy." Plus you have to remember, Maidana had been in a lot of wars. But I take my hat off, you know, he put on a great fight and I was very impressed the way he fought, not really once, but both times.
BT: I know you said you're still looking at opponent for that December date. In order to get that fight with Floyd, do you feel like you have to fight a certain type of opponent in order to make a statement and convince, not just fans, but maybe Floyd as well that you should definitely be next?
AK: Whoever it is in December, I think it's still going to lead to a fight with Floyd because there's so much talk about it. Plus, I think Floyd needs somebody to get them [pay-per-view] numbers high. If you look at his last few fights, they've been quite low, apart from the Canelo fight, and I think he needs someone who can speak english well, who's quite intelligent, you know, who the fans are going to love. I'm a people's champion. People like me. People like my exciting style. People want to see me in against Floyd because they think I have a different, unique style to people that Floyd has fought before. Plus, All Access, with me around, won't be boring like Maidana's or Robert Guerrero's or anyone. I'm a fun guy. Like in the UK, I'll give you an example, whenever there's fights there, they do like a All Access in the UK, I'm normally the Floyd Mayweather of the UK, so it's going to be good to have two top guys doing a show like that. There are things that I think I'll bring in and I think that's what is going to get a lot of viewers to watch this fight between me and Floyd Mayweather. Then they're going to look at us style-wise as well and they're gonna think, "Wait a minute! Style-wise, I think it's going to be another great fight because speed and explosiveness." No boxer, to this day, has boxed me and beaten me in boxing. I've beaten every boxer. I've lost in fights, I've been knocked down in fights, and I've made my own mistakes, but even before those knockouts, you know, I out-boxed the guys. When it comes to a boxing match, which I know against Floyd it will be a boxing match, Floyd will not be able to hurt me. It'll be a technical fight and I don't think there's anyone who can beat me when it comes to technique and skill and boxing. Look, time will tell and Floyd maybe knows that. I'm a skillful fighter and that's why I really think and I do believe that I'll give him problems because of my skills. But not only do I have the skills, I've got speed as well, you know, and since the Freddie Roach days, I think I'm a better fighter now under Virgil Hunter. He's planting things in my head. I've become a fighter who's more wiser and that's what it's all about, man.
BT: Do you think that's been missing in some of Floyd's recent fights; that strong personality that can maybe counter any trash talk and really help sell the fight?
AK: Every fight is different, but with me, I'm a fun guy. I'm a guy with a lot of luxuries. God's been kind. I mean, look, when you watch the All Access show, you look at it and you think Floyd's won already before the fight's happened. Personality, yeah, that's one thing I think is going to build the fight up if the fight with Floyd happens. I'm a people's champion. People wanna see a good guy win. I know my fan base, in certain areas, are going to be bigger or as big as Floyd Mayweather. In America, we've started to make a name for ourselves. In boxing, I think I'm the only hope now. I mean, who else is there? I don't see anyone. I think I'm the only hope to beat Floyd and what works for me is when it comes to a boxing fight, no one can touch Amir with the speed and exposiveness. When I mentioned that in the last fight, he looked a little old, but even if he was at his best, I still believe that I could beat Floyd Mayweather, so it's got nothing to do with him being old. I just got his number.
BT: So as far as you're concerned, you'd say you have the advantage over Floyd when it comes to both speed and boxing skills?
AK: 100%! 100%! I know I'm faster than him and then when it comes to a game of chess, I think that's when it comes to who's the smartest boxer out there, like I said, no one's beaten Amir when it comes to boxing.
BT: Hypothetically speaking, assuming all goes well in December, let's say Floyd says, "Okay Amir, let's do it," and he picks you to be his opponent in May. Do you foresee any issues with your promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, considering that he's made it clear that he wants to take back the May and September pay-per-view dates and he's looking to match Canelo with Miguel Cotto?
AK: I don't think it should affect us because, to be honest with you, you've got two superstars in boxing, and I've always said there's a hidden market there, the Pakistani, the Indian community, that can be huge in pay-per-view buys. We've never had a Pakistani or Indian fighter [fighting on pay-per-view], so when they see one of their own fighting, regardless if they know him or like him or not, they still would buy the fight because they'll be like, "Look, this is one of our guys." So I think when you've got two superstars against one, I think you know which show's going to win and who's going to get the bad numbers and stuff, even if it's on the same day.
http://fighthype.com/news/article18054.html
Im still of the belief Khan would be a better opponent against Floyd than Maidana was. I
