Agencies
London, May 7
Amir Khan has admitted he could return to training in time for a September clash with Floyd Mayweather if he was offered this fight date by the undefeated American .
Mayweather extended his unbeaten record to 48 wins with a dominant points win over Manny Pacquiao at the weekend and then stated his intention to retire after one final fight in four months’ time.
Khan’s desire to observe Ramadan was thought to have ruled him out of this timescale, but this year’s Muslim festival ends on July 17, leaving the British fighter more time to complete a full training camp.
"I'm not ruling out fighting in September because it's possible that it could happen," Khan said.
"Mayweather only fights in mid-September and Ramadan will be a little earlier this year, which helps. It gives me enough time to get the training done. So it can happen in September."
Khan was at ringside in Las Vegas and insisted he spotted signs of ‘panic’ from Mayweather, despite his one-sided victory over Pacquiao.He fuelled speculation about a possible showdown by suggesting he was approached by Mayweather’s advisor Leonard Ellerbe, while the 38-year-old’s father Floyd Snr also mentioned Khan as a potential opponent.
"Mayweather looked great, he did what he had to do to win the fight, his accuracy was nothing but the best," he said.
"Mayweather is very skilful and patient and tries to make his opponents make mistakes. His work rate dropped tremendously because of his age.”
"There were a few things there that I'd not seen before. When he takes a good shot he does panic. The only way to catch Floyd is with speed and explosiveness, which Manny had, but Manny didn't use that enough in the fight."
However, Khan must first defeat Chris Algieri before he can think about a fight with Mayweather.
Algieri was knocked down six times in a November points defeat by Pacquiao, but Khan insists he will not take the New Yorker lightly when he faces him at his hometown venue of the Barclays Center on May 29.
"I need to win this fight if I'm to get near any of the big names in boxing. It's time to fight Chris Algieri, I'm not going to be fighting Mayweather until I win this fight," he said.
"Winning this fight is everything to me. I'm not looking past Chris because I've made that mistake in the past. There are bigger fights out there for me, but this is my focus."
