Contrary to the reports that a deal for a fight between WBA junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan and interim beltholder Marcos Maidana had been reached, BoxingScene.com's Rick Reeno has been told that that is not the case. Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy says he's merely delayed the purse bid for a short time, hoping to figure out quickly what Golden Boy's first move promoting Khan will be.
In the meantime, Reeno also reports that there is an offer "on the table" for Khan to face reigning lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Khan is a former lightweight himself, but surely this fight would be at 140 for Khan's title, if the WBA could be, erm, convinced to let Khan hang onto the belt instead of stripping him should he not fight Maidana. I'm sure something could be arranged.
Roach now says he advises Khan to not fight Maidana immediately because there's not enough money or "buzz" about the fight. I'd say that Khan-Maidana has plenty of buzz among the hardcore boxing fans, in part because Khan is now being painted as a coward due to the publicity of Roach telling Khan to not fight Maidana. Khan himself has not said he would avoid the bout.
I know a lot of people will see Marquez-Khan as a viable fight, somewhat because of Khan's dodgy chin, but I just don't see it. I realize this probably won't be a popular opinion.
Khan belongs at 140. Marquez does not belong over 135. Against Floyd Mayweather Jr. at 147, Marquez was brutally slow. Khan, like Mayweather, is a speed merchant, and he's actually taller than Floyd and employs his jab better than Mayweather does.
I know there's a decent chance that even blown up, Marquez can hurt or even stop Khan. JMM is a tough cookie and has a never-say-die attitude, but there's only so much he can do against a faster, younger, bigger man. If he tags him, sure, it could change the fight very fast, but I'm not convinced he can do any more with Khan than Andriy Kotelnik did.
I would certainly watch the fight and be interested to see if I'm totally wrong about it, because I'm a fan of both guys. But it's just my early gut feeling about that matchup.
Which fight would you rather see?