• Boxing

Stop milking my son like a cash cow - Shah Khan

Amir Khan's fight with Paulie Malignaggi was almost cancelled after the American demanded more money © Getty Images

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Amir Khan's dad has told opponents to stop trying to milk his son like a "cash cow".

The WBA light-welterweight champion has seen domestic bouts against John Murray and Jon Thaxton fail to go ahead because of their excessive demands and the Bolton puncher's last opponent Paulie Malignaggi threatened to pull out of their clash in New York over money issues.

Re-negotiations saw Malignaggi pocket £430,000 from the US TV rights compared to Khan's £650,000 and Shah Kahn says his son, a silver medallist at the 2004 Olympics, feels his opponents should be more realistic in their negotiations.

"Maybe some people see Amir as a bit of a cash cow because they all want more when it comes to negotiating fees for a fight," Kahn told the Daily Mirror. "They know he is big box office and they want to cash in on him.

"As soon as his name is mentioned, they demand extra. John Murray twice talked himself out of a fight with Amir because of the demands he made. Jon Thaxton was the same and you have to look at where he is now. He could have retired a little bit richer than he did.

"Boxers should want to fight Amir regardless of all that. I'm not saying fight for nothing, but you have to be realistic. If you get tough and refuse to meet their demands, you see stories that Amir did not want the fight when nothing could be further from the truth."

Lightweight king Juan Manuel Marquez also recently refused to fight Khan but Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer is keen to make the fight happen. Schaefer is pushing for Khan to be one half of a transatlantic double bill, with the 23-year-old fighting Michael Katsidis in Britain shortly before Marquez takes on Juan Diaz in Las Vegas.

"There's talk of a date in July and we have to see what we can do," Schaefer said. "We could do a split bill with Amir fighting in the UK and then go across to Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz at Mandalay Bay.

"That would be some double-header. I would then like to see the winner of Marquez-Diaz fight Amir - I think that would be a great fight."

Schaefer is also trying hard to set up a fight between WBA heavyweight king David Haye and IBF and WBO king Wladimir Klitschko.

"I'm going to talk to Adam Booth and I think we can make the Haye-Klitschko fight. David's wife is due to give birth soon and he's a bit preoccupied - and rightly so because family comes first - but I firmly believe this fight will happen.

"David wants it and Wladimir wants it."

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