Amir Khan Hits Back at Floyd Mayweather:
-I'm Big Enough and I Really Believe I Can Beat Him
Amir Khan back in UK after win over Devon Alexander in Las Vegas last Saturday
Welterweight boxer wants to fight Floyd Mayweather next and has accused him of running scared
Khan will donate his £30,000 shorts to charity to help raise funds for school attacked by Taliban
Daily Mail UK, 26 December 2014
Amir Khan has hit back at insults from America’s flamboyant world champion Floyd Mayweather by claiming he is more famous than the welterweight known as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
And in a neat dig at Mayweather’s famed macho ego, Khan insisted he throws more punches in one round than the unbeaten world champion manages in an entire fight.
Mayweather, who has earned £300million in a unbeaten 47-fight career, is looking for a super-fight with Manny Pacquiao and dismissed Khan’s plea to fight him by claiming the Bolton fighter’s ‘name doesn’t carry enough weight’.
Amir Khan has announced that he will donate the £30,000 shorts he wore during his last week to charity
Khan posted two pictures of his refurbished gym and clothes from his fight with Devon Alexander on Thursday
But Khan, back in his native North West after beating Devon Alexander in Las Vegas at the weekend, was in fighting form as he held court at The Gloves Community Centre boxing gym in his hometown.
‘Mayweather says I’m not a big enough name but I am a bigger name than his opponents Maidana, Guerrero and Victor Ortiz put together.
‘I am known in places like India, Pakistan, Dubai and the UAE where they don’t even know who Mayweather is. India has a billion people, Pakistan has 180m people and I can’t even walk down the street there. I am bigger than Mayweather in a lot of places and I can help him become more famous, and earn more money.’
Khan isn’t worried that 36-year-old Mayweather could catch him out.
Khan was all smiles as he talked to the assembled press at his gym in Bolton UK
Khan is hoping his next fight will be against Floyd Mayweather next year
‘Mayweather throws maybe three hundred punches in a fight, I could manage that in a single round,’ he said.
‘Floyd will never hurt me. I have been knocked down in other fights but Mayweather is not the biggest puncher, not as big as Alexander. Our fight would be like a game of chess, hit-move. It would be about footwork and accuracy, nothing more, nothing less.
‘I speak to legends like Roy Jones and Thomas Hearns and they say I would beat him. Even the taxi driver I spoke to in Vegas said he hoped I would knock him out. The people there want to see him humbled
‘But Floyd is the boss. If he doesn’t want to fight me, he won’t. He’s not the type of guy where I could just turn up to his house and have a chat about it. But maybe all this stuff about me not being a big name is a sign he might be interested, he is starting to promote the fight. I don’t think him and Pacquiao will happen.’
Khan’s homecoming to England after wowing the Vegas fans has been bittersweet. His friend Anthony Crolla, who trains in the same gym, suffered a fractured skull and broken ankle after being hit on the head by a concrete slab as he confronted burglars.
Khan lands a left hand during his impressive win on decision against Alexander
Khan arrived back in Manchester along with his wife and daughter on Wednesday
Mayweather says Khan's 'name holds no weight' and that he will not fight him
And the terrorist attack that killed 132 schoolchildren in Pakistan, where Khan’s family originate from, has also affected him badly. The £30,000 pair of shorts he wore at the weekend, containing a gold waistband, will be auctioned off to raise funds for the survivors.
Talking about Crolla, Khan revealed that he had volunteered to be his pal’s sparring partner ahead of his world lightweight title shot against Richar Abril in Manchester on January 23, which has now been cancelled
‘Me and Crolla are good friends,’ said Khan. ‘I roomed with him as an amateur.
‘His trainer Joe Gallagher was at my fight in Vegas and I told him I would spar with Crollar to help him because Abril is a long fighter, and I have got long arms, I can replicate his style.
It is probable that Mayweather will insist on fighting Pacquiao, an eight-division champion, in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas
‘Then I got back and found he had been smashed over the head. I feel really bad, they have taken away his dream of fighting for a world title and tried to ruin his life, over nothing.’
Khan admits there must be doubts over whether Crolla can fight again.
‘When you have suffered something that bad, you have to understand the Board might not give him a license. It is very dangerous, is it worth that risk?
‘We fighters, even me in his position, would want to fight again, but sometimes you have to think of your health first.’
The attack on Crolla follows a knife attack on another potential Khan opponent, Kell Brook, in Tenerife earlier this year.
The two incidents were totally unconnected but Khan says he is always conscious of trying to stay away from trouble outside boxing.
‘I don’t like fighting, I only do it when I am in the ring,’ he said.
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