Adrien Broner, the "little brother" of pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather has repeatedly stated he will not fight "Money," whom he considers a mentor. That is certainly the case until May, as Mayweather seems set on taking on Amir Khan May 3rd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
After dismantling Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, the pickings for a real challenge to Mayweather looked slim. The names coming up most frequently were Broner, Danny Garcia and Amir Khan.
It appears the combination of Khan's style, large British fan base, and name recognition were enough to win the Mayweather lottery. This upcoming bout is expected to rake in $200 million, and Khan will likely receive a career-high payday of $6 million, with the potential for it to reach $12 million.
Khan has made noise about being ready for his December bout with Devon Alexander, a fight that if he won, would have solidified his credentials to be Money's next opponent. Apparently, Khan didn't even need that victory under his belt, and he's pulled out of the Alexander fight so as not to risk a damaging loss.
The choice of Khan is curious considering Garcia not only won impressively on the Mayweather vs. Alvarez undercard against a power-punching favorite, he knocked Khan out last year.
Regardless, Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza has been fascinated with Khan since Mayweather's boxing lesson against Canelo.
"What we saw against Saul Alvarez is that strength alone is not going to do it against Floyd Mayweather, so when you talk about handspeed and foot speed, then you start talking about two guys - Amir Khan and Adrien Broner," Espinoza said. "And whether or not Amir Khan lost to Danny Garcia or not, Amir Khan is one of the fastest fighters out there in the world."
Khan also has a suspect chin, having been floored by Garcia, and badly hurt by Lamont Peterson and even Julio Diaz, a journeyman whom Khan defeated by unanimous decision in April.
The real question now is whether or not the fight could happen in England. Espinoza has said he'd like "The Money Team" to start taking over internationally.
"The first one to knock down is the UK, because that's the one that's easy to transition to," Espinoza said. "The Money Team, Mayweather Promotions, [promoting] his own fights, potentially. And once we get that base established in the UK, then pick another territory and continue."
Only time will tell.
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