Floyd Mayweather was the man to beat at 147 pounds at the height of his dominance. Money May beat every top welterweight, from Ricky Hatton to the great Manny Pacquiao. The American dismantled every top welterweight in his era. However, one name was missing from Mayweather’s resume: Amir ‘King’ Khan.
The Missed Opportunity: Mayweather vs. Khan
Back in 2014, Mayweather polled his fans to determine who he should fight next. Amir Khan won the poll, and a fight between the Brits and the Americans was on the horizon. Unfortunately, the fight never materialised, with Mayweather instead fighting Marcos Maidana. This decision baffled many of the boxing public, considering that Khan had beaten Maidana four years prior.
Unfortunately for boxing fans, we never got to see Money Mayweather vs King Khan, but I will look at how a fight between the two welterweights could have turned out.
Offense
Embed from Getty ImagesThe one thing that makes Amir Khan stand out amongst most fighters is his hand speed. The Brit can land around 6/7 punches in a matter of seconds, and due to the speed of his shots, they land with devastating effect. As the old saying goes, the shots you don’t see hurt you the most.
As we know, Floyd Mayweather fights on the back foot and shells, waiting for his opponents to attack. Khan’s hand speed would have given Mayweather a different type of problem to deal with. Floyd is a master of seeing shots coming and countering. What is a nightmare for a fighter like this?
Someone whose hands are so fast that they can’t see every shot coming their way.
Floyd was a master at keeping the fight at his distance and an expert at figuring his opponents out. Offensively, Floyd was vicious in his younger days, but when he became Money Mayweather, he became a defensive wizard. That being said, the American still knew how to be efficient with his attacks. His jabs to the body would have taken the wind out of Amir Khan.
In the fight against fellow Brit Ricky Hatton, Mayweather could time a perfect check hook to floor the Mancunian. Whilst his offence wasn’t as sharp as it was, Money was still able to seize an opportunity when it presented itself. If a fighter had a glaring weakness, Mayweather could exploit it. With the way Amir Khan would overreach with some of his shots, it would be hard to see Floyd not take advantage of this.
Defence
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen you think of the greatest defence in boxing, you think of Floyd Mayweather. The American perfected the Philly shell, and his influence left a mark on the sport. Even today, fighters such as Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson use many of the defensive tactics employed by Mayweather. The Hall of Famer was an expert at hit and not-getting-hit tactics.
Amir Khan’s defence, however, left little to be desired. By no means was Khan easy to hit, but he often made reckless mistakes. One constant error that Khan makes is planting his feet in the pocket. This mistake would see him get knocked out by the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Danny Garcia. Khan’s defence was purely just moving his feet and squirting along the outside.
Amir Khan’s Boxing Style and Defensive Weaknesses
The Brits would hit you and then take 2 to 3 steps back to avoid danger. When it came to his lateral movement, Khan was unable to execute the Philly shell because it wasn’t in his nature. From a young age, Amir Khan had a fast hand, and because of this, his coaches worked solely on his offence. Amir Khan’s defence is fragile, and he is seen to have a ‘glass chin’ because of how he was taught to box.
They taught the Brit to use his speed to overwhelm his opponents, paying little attention to what was coming back in his direction. This is why Khan drops his hands when he throws punches and why his chin is stuck up in the air.
In comparison, Mayweather always had his hands up to protect himself and rarely took any damage. If Khan had been the one advancing, it would have been hard for Mayweather to get a read of his offence due to his speed. Eventually, Money would likely have been able to adjust and make Khan miss. However, if Floyd had been the one advancing, Khan would have struggled to handle Mayweather’s timing due to his lack of defensive fundamentals.
Conclusion
Amir Khan traditionally was a quick starter in fights and often banked the first three rounds. Mayweather, however, took a few rounds to figure out his opponents. Once he grasped the timing, Mayweather outboxed his opponents with ease.
I do not doubt that Khan’s speed would have caused the American problems. We would have perhaps seen Floyd up against the ropes whilst King Khan would unload his combinations. However, as the fight would go on Mayweather would have picked up on the timing of Khan and would have been to counter a lot of his shots.
As previously stated, the Bolton-born fighter made the mistake of planting his feet in the pocket. While Mayweather didn’t have huge punching power, he had enough to get his opponent’s attention. Amir Khan’s Achilles heel is his chin. You best believe if Floyd Mayweather had enough power to take Ricky Hatton off his feet, then he could have hurt Amir Khan. Even in his older years, Mayweather was able to hurt a 154-pound Conor Mcgregor. The American’s punches were sharp and accurate.
Embed from Getty ImagesI could foresee a scenario where Khan gets frustrated and starts to overreach. To which Mayweather would begin to pick up on and then set a trap for the Brit.
If you combine Mayweather’s ability to figure out his opponents with Khan’s ability to get wreckless in the pocket, there is only one outcome. For my fantasy prediction, I feel that Mayweather would have timed his fellow welterweight with a right uppercut, which would have dropped the Brit. With the Olympian rising to his feet, Money Mayweather would have landed a flurry that would have seen him stop Amir Khan.