British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan has struck a deal with Floyd Mayweather’s promoter Al Haymon, making him the forerunner for a showdown against the American next year.
Khan, who has been associated with the US promotional partner Golden Boy Promotions, will be under Hayman’s wing from now onwards, joining the likes of Adonis Stevenson from Canada along with Adrien Broner and Danny Garcia, who are also viewed as candidates to face Mayweather.
After Golden Boy’s counter-productive suggestion to drop out of a world title match against Devon Alexander in order to sign up for a fight with Mayweather which never came to pass, Khan’s relationship with the agency reportedly went sour.
On Tuesday night, Khan said, “I am very happy to have signed with Al Haymon who has not only shown that he is a very astute businessman but is extremely knowledgeable of the fight game and always has his fighters’ best interests at heart. I’m looking forward to building a long and successful relationship during this exciting stage of my career.”
Al Haymon was a giant figure in the music industry and is steadily emerging as a grand personality in the sport of boxing with the support of executives in Showtime.
Mayweather, who will be defending his world welterweight title on 3rd May against Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas, did not countersign the deal which Khan had already penned down. This means Khan will have time to prepare before he faces off against Mayweather, and will next play the undercard match against the perilous New York fighter Luis Collazo.
Khan’s spokesman, however, played down the rift between the boxer and Golden Boy, stating, “He’s still with Golden Boy and will be continued to be promoted by them. Al Haymon will be there advising on fights and helping steer his boxing career going forward. [There is] no guarantee on Mayweather but it should hopefully make things a little easier when the time comes.”