Khan not keen to take on Mayweather
AMIR KHAN insists he is no longer interested in fighting Floyd Mayweather even if the American makes his expected return from retirement.
Khan challenges Mexico’s defending WBC middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez on Saturday at Las Vegas’ new T-Mobile Arena and is rated a huge underdog as a result of jumping two weight divisions for the contest.
Mayweather has, this week, attracted significant attention since hinting at plans for a comeback and speaking of talks with American television networks CBS and Showtime.
If Khan were to hold a middleweight title, a division in which the 39-year-old is yet to fight, the potential money involved would make a match-up an attractive proposition.
Asked if he planned to pursue the former five-weight world champion in the event of defeating Alvarez both on Saturday and after the Mexican had exercised his rematch clause, however, Khan was defiant.
“He messed me around a lot, so I don’t think I’d take that fight,” he said. “I’d probably treat him the same way.
“As soon as you say you’re retired, we do forget about the people who say that.
“Mayweather’s feeling that now. He’s feeling like no-one’s talking about him, that he’s old news, and maybe that’s why he’s trying to get everyone supporting him again by saying: ‘I want to make a comeback’.”
It was when Khan’s very public pursuits of Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao failed that the advice he was receiving was questioned.
The team guiding his career, including father Shah, was criticised when it stalled during that period, but they have since delivered the Alvarez fight, which Khan believes vindicates the faith he has shown in them.
“If I look at my career financially, I think it’s one of the best careers any fighter’s had,” said the 29-yearold. “Boxing’s a business, and I’ve got a great team who have been looking after me in that sense.”