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Back in 2010, Amir Khan gutted out an exciting decision win over Marcos Maidana at 140 pounds, taking all the big shots he wasn't supposed to be able to take, and flooring Maidana hard in the first round on a beautiful body shot.
Now as we near a close in 2013, the same two men are in the mix to face Floyd Mayweather on May 3, though they've taken quite different paths to get here. Since their fight three years ago, Khan has gone 4-2, beating Paul McCloskey, Zab Judah, Carlos Molina, and Julio Diaz, while losing to Lamont Peterson (under controversial circumstances, to be fair) and Danny Garcia. Meanwhile, Maidana has gone 6-1, scoring wins over Erik Morales, Petr Petrov, Jesus Soto Karass, Angel Martinez, Josesito Lopez, and most recently and significantly, Adrien Broner.
Maidana (35-3, 31 KO) is without question the hotter name right now, as Khan (28-3, 19 KO) does have two straight wins, but neither of them kicked up much dust or impressed many folks, as Molina was a made-to-order bounce-back opponent, and Khan had plenty of trouble with Diaz, who was supposed to be another fairly soft touch.
Khan decided to drop negotiations to fight Devon Alexander in order to wait for a Mayweather fight. If we're being as positive as possible, we can say that it was the right business move. Cynically, it was the only business move, as Khan has proven so vulnerable that risking really any fight before potentially cashing in (or out) against Floyd was a real danger.
Khan is worth more money, mostly because of his UK presence. Neither fight seems a surefire PPV blockbuster or anything, though.
Stylistically, it's hard to imagine either man giving Mayweather (45-0, 26 KO) any serious challenge.
Assuming these are the two options for May 3, which would you rather see?