"I'll still fight in May regardless of whatever happens. Early May or end of April, I want to fight because I want to keep myself busy, you know. I've been at it for a long time, so I definitely have a date around that time, yeah. We're going to get a Plan B opponent, hopefully take that fight, and still work our way towards a Mayweather fight. Look, the aim and the goal is to fight Floyd Mayweather and to keep working towards that fight...If we don't get the fight, then we just have to go to Plan B really and we have to just kind of stay strong mentally. I mean, everything happens for a reason and maybe it's not the right time, so you just move on and then you just get a new opponent. Look, it's not going to faze me. I'm just going to have to carry on and do my thing really," stated former jr. welterweight champion Amir Khan, who had a lot to say about his future plans, with or without a potential showdown with undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd "Money" Mayweather. Check it out!
BT: Amir, at one time, it seemed like you were the frontrunner to land the May 3 fight with Floyd Mayweather, but now...
AK: (Cutting in) At one time, I thought I was 100% to get the fight. Then Maidana's name popped up, but I still thought, you know, Broner and Mayweather are close, so it won't happen.
BT: When did you start to have some concern that maybe you might not be getting the fight? Was it when Floyd announced that he was letting the fans vote between you and Maidana?
AK: Yeah, around that time. I mean, look, if you think about it, even though he's not announced the fight, he's still promoting the fight in two different parts of the world, with Maidana being on one side and me being on the other side of the world. He's getting coverage from different countries and different parts of the world all the time. The UK press is putting in the newspaper whatever little thing Floyd is saying about me, and whatever Floyd says about Maidana, that's in the press in Argentina. He's doing it the smart way where he's getting a lot of publicity from it even though he's not announced the fight.
BT: You've done a pretty thorough job of stating your case as to why you should be the one getting the fight. Other than the physical attributes that you mentioned, like speed, do you also consider yourself to be the better choice financially?
AK: Look, at the end of the day, styles make fights and I think Maidana brings the same style to the table that Mayweather's fought recently. I think Maidana's a less stronger and a slower version of Canelo. But I'm telling you, I really believe that if we get the fight with Floyd Mayweather, the numbers will be huge because there's a hidden market there that's not been touched yet. The Muslims, we can get them involved. One thing about religions is when there's a Muslim fighting, the other Muslims want to kind of say, "Who is this Muslim kid fighting? Let's follow him. Let's support him and let's get behind him." Then you'll get in the couple of millions. I don't know what the population of Muslims are in America, it must be big, but you'll get them behind you as well. You know, that's a market that's not been touched by boxing, you know what I mean?
BT: Yeah, I get what you're saying, but I don't necessarily know how that translates into pay-per-view buys.
AK: I'll tell you one thing, we'd take it to a different level if I get to fight Floyd Mayweather. I'd get the whole nation behind me. I mean, I know how to sell a fight; I know how to make a big fight. I mean, the biggest pay-per-view numbers in the UK is me. I've got a good, clean image. I'm a family man. I do a lot of charity work. I want to become the People's Champion. I want people to like me and support me. They might still think Floyd's a better fighter and think that he might beat me, but still, they're going to want to support me. I want new people getting involved in boxing. Like I said, there's so many hidden markets. Look, the Filipinos all know me; I was training there and living there for a little bit with Manny Pacquiao. Of course there's England. Then you've got the Pakistanis, the Muslims, the Indians. I mean, you know, there's a big market that has not been touched yet. That's what I bring to the table; I bring that part of the world which Floyd ain't touched at the moment.
This is opening big doors for him in the future, not only in America, but in places like Dubai and Pakiston, where people don't know him, but they will know him after he fights me. I mean, I can't walk the streets in them countries. You've got India, which has got 1.2 billion people, and India is a fast-growing country with a lot of money. That's going to make Floyd even bigger. Look, I don't want to make this fight big. I want to make it a huge fight, bro. I swear, I want to make it huge in a different way, man, where the world knows about this fight, you know what I mean? That's what I want to do to this fight. I don't want to make it a small fight and just get pay-per-view in America; I want to make it a global fight, and I know I can do that and I know Floyd can do that. Normally it's him who always sells the fight. If it's Maidana or Canelo or whoever, they just chill, but with me, I'll do even more work than Floyd to make this fight even bigger than it is.
BT: Have you heard anything recently about which way Floyd might be leaning with his pick?
AK: I spoke to Richard [Schaefer] and Richard was like, "We're still working on things." So I left it to my team really to negotiate and talk to all the people on his team. The thing is, I'm just focusing on my training. Instead of me getting frustrated and getting angry, I'm just gonna stick to training and keep working hard and just chill, really.
BT: If Mayweather does end up choosing Maidana, have you guys already started considering a Plan B? I'm sure you'd probably prefer to fight sooner rather than later.
AK: I'll still fight in May regardless of whatever happens. Early May or end of April, I want to fight because I want to keep myself busy, you know. I've been at it for a long time, so I definitely have a date around that time, yeah. We're going to get a Plan B opponent, hopefully take that fight, and still work our way towards a Mayweather fight. Look, the aim and the goal is to fight Floyd Mayweather and to keep working towards that fight. That's what we're hoping for. So if we can get that fight, you know, that's like the pinnacle of everything, really. I want to reach the best fight for me and I think the Floyd fight is the best fight for me. I'll be still working towards that one big fight. If we don't get the fight, then we just have to go to Plan B, really, and we have to just kind of stay strong mentally. I mean, everything happens for a reason and maybe it's not the right time, so you just move on and then you just get a new opponent. Look, it's not going to faze me. I'm just going to have to carry on and do my thing, really.
BT: You've been putting in a lot of work with Virgil Hunter. Would it alter things as far as training is concerned if you don't get the fight?
AK: We've been working on the mistakes that we've been making and, you know, it's only going to make me a stronger fighter and a better fighter, really. I can work on my mistakes and I'm going to be a better fighter instead of rushing into this one. If it's not my time now, then maybe in the future, it will be. I'll be a stronger fighter with more training with Virgil, and I'll be seasoned as a fighter as well.
BT: If you do end up having to go with a Plan B, would you be willing to fight on the May 3 card as the co-main event?
AK: At the end of the day, it's all about the numbers and if the numbers are big enough for me to do it; because look, I have my own TV dates. I have a contract with Showtime, so I can get TV dates straight away anyway with good money. But look, I know it will make sense by getting a big super-fight for me, but if it makes sense for me financially, then definitely. Look, boxing's a business, as we all know, so yeah, it has to make sense for me in a business way. We'll see what happens.
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