adminLAS VEGAS. — Amir Khan unleashed a flurry of verbal jabs on Tuesday at Floyd Mayweather after the unbeaten American passed him over for a lucrative May 3 boxing bout and chose Argentina’s Marcos Maidana.
Mayweather, 45-0 with 26 knock-outs, said on Monday — his 37th birthday — that he would defend his World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council light-middleweight crowns against Maidana, 35-3 with 31 knock-outs, and not Khan. The 27-year-old Englishman Khan — who defeated Maidana in 2010 — made his fury clear in a statement released by his promotions company and linked to a post on his Twitter feed, intimating that Mayweather was running scared.
“Despite having signed my part of the agreement to fight Floyd in early December, I’ve been preparing myself for some time that the match-up with him wasn’t going to happen,” Khan said. “Therefore this announcement (Monday) did not come as a surprise.
“I am, however, very disappointed with Floyd and his team for not providing any explanation as to why he delayed the announcement for so long and ultimately avoided the fight with me. Clarification, if he was not fighting me, would have allowed me to look over my options and pursue another path, rather than the ultimate delay to my career this has caused.”
Khan, 28-3 with 19 knock-outs, has not fought since last April 27 and skipped a planned December bout with US southpaw Devon Alexander for the International Boxing Federation title in anticipation of a big-money showdown with Mayweather. Instead, it has been a major aggravation and the longest lay-off of his career, as he attempts to get back on track after two devastating defeats against Lamont Peterson, in 2011, and then Danny Garcia the following year. — AFP.
Online Reporter