Amir Khan believes that the sight of his face adorning the side of the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip this week has been upsetting Floyd Mayweather, who has begun to drop hints about a comeback.
Khan challenges Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez for the WBC middleweight title on Saturday on the Cinco de Mayo weekend that was traditionally reserved for Mayweather’s biggest bouts. Five times in the past nine years, Mayweather boxed in Las Vegas on this weekend, including his match with Manny Pacquiao last year and Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
But with Mayweather retired there is now a 40-storey picture of Khan, 29, and Álvarez, 25, where Mayweather’s image used to be, while this is the first boxing match to take place at the brand new T-Mobile Arena just behind The Strip, which Mayweather carried out the groundbreaking ceremony for two years ago.
“My dream was to fight in Vegas, to see my name up in lights and to see that big poster
Last weekend, Mayweather, 39, was happy to play up talk of a comeback as soon as September, with Danny Garcia, a former victor over Khan who now holds the WBC welterweight title, has been rumoured as a likely opponent.
“I think he is a little bit bitter,” Khan said. “He has probably seen the big poster at the MGM and now it is me and Canelo. I remember him saying a long time ago that he wanted to be the first guy to fight at this new arena.”
Advertisement
Few people expected Mayweather not to box again after he announced his retirement after beating Andre Berto last September. His unbeaten record stands at 49 bouts, level with Rocky Marciano as the world champion with the longest unbeaten record. But the disappointing nature of his wins over Pacquiao and Berto means that there has not been the clamour for his return that he was expecting.
“Basically now people aren’t talking about him and he is missing all this,” Khan said. “That is why he is saying these things now to try to get people talking about him again. I’m sure he is missing it. This used to be his day.”
While he has boxed in Las Vegas many times now, this is by far the biggest bout of Khan’s career, even if he comes in as an underdog for the first time.
“My dream was to fight in Vegas, to see my name up in lights and to see that big poster, this is even better than I expected,” he said.
“I can see that big poster from my room. It is mad. I want to go to the MGM and get a picture of myself standing by it. Everywhere you go people are talking about this fight, there are posters on taxis, buses and even on the room cards.
Advertisement
“This is something you dream of. There is also a huge screen outside the arena where the fight is going to happen. I haven’t been there yet but I hope to go there tomorrow just to have a look.”
● Álvarez v Khan is live on BoxNation on Saturday. See boxnation.com for details