• Welterweight

Khan: I'm a bigger name than Mayweather in some places

ESPN staff
December 19, 2014
Amir Khan beat Devon Alexander with a unanimous decision in Las Vegas on Saturday © Getty Images
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Amir Khan has hit back at Floyd Mayweather's suggestions that no one knows who the British boxer is by telling him: "I'm more famous than you in some countries."

Mayweather, who has earned more than £300 million in an unbeaten 47-fight career, shrugged off Khan's plea to fight him, claiming his name "doesn't carry enough weight".

But Khan, back in England after beating Devon Alexander in Las Vegas on Saturday, responded by saying he is a bigger name than three of Mayweather's last five opponents - Marcos Maidana, Robert Guerrero and Victor Ortiz - "put together".

Khan to auction shorts for Pakistan

Amir Khan shows off the items up for auction © Twitter
  • Amir Khan has decided to auction off the shorts he wore to beat Devon Alexander in Las Vegas on Saturday to raise money for the survivors of the terrorist attack that killed 132 schoolchildren in Pakistan.
  • Khan, whose family originate from the country, made the announcement during a promotional appearance at the The Gloves Community Centre boxing gym in his hometown of Bolton.
  • The shorts, featuring a gold waistband, are reportedly worth around £20,000.

He added: "I am known in places like India, Pakistan, Dubai and the UAE where they don't even know who Mayweather is.

"India has a billion people, Pakistan has 180 million people and I can't even walk down the street there. I am bigger than Mayweather in a lot of places and I can help him become more famous, and earn more money."

Mayweather has made it clear that he wants to finally get the super-fight with Manny Pacquiao next year, and Khan has admitted there is nothing he can do to sway his mind.

"I can't do anything - that's Floyd," he said. "That's the type of guy Floyd is. He's the boss and you just agree with what he says.

"It doesn't do me any favours at all. Nobody can do anything, it's up to Floyd. At the end of the day he might just say 'I don't want to fight you - I want to fight somebody else'."

But if the fight does happen, Khan is not worried that Mayweather would cause him too many problems.

"Mayweather throws maybe three hundred punches in a fight, I could manage that in a single round," he declared. "Floyd will never hurt me. I have been knocked down in other fights but Mayweather is not the biggest puncher, not as big as Alexander.

"Our fight would be like a game of chess, hit-move. It would be about footwork and accuracy, nothing more, nothing less.

"I speak to legends like Roy Jones and Thomas Hearns and they say I would beat him. Even the taxi driver I spoke to in Vegas said he hoped I would knock him out. The people there want to see him humbled.

"But Floyd is the boss. If he doesn't want to fight me, he won't. He's not the type of guy where I could just turn up to his house and have a chat about it. But maybe all this stuff about me not being a big name is a sign he might be interested, he is starting to promote the fight. I don't think him and Pacquiao will happen."

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