Amir Khan: 'I Would Beat Up' and 'Knock Out' Tim Bradley

LAS VEGAS -- In the past few weeks, WBA junior welterweight (140 pounds) king Amir Khan has made the decision to "embolden" himself, in the words of HBO President of Sports, Ross Greenburg, to call out some of the premiere fighters in his division, including WBO counterpart, Tim Bradley, and, WBC and IBF king, Devon Alexander.

On Wednesday, the 23-year-old Khan (23-1, 17 knockouts) showed up at press conference at the Mandalay Bay Hotel where Saturday night's HBO-televised lightweight (135 pounds) championship clash between WBO and WBA titlist Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs) and challenger Juan Diaz (35-3, 17 KOs) was being promoted.

Khan will be an interested spectator at ringside for Marquez-Diaz, as will Australia's interim WBO lightweight king Michael Katsidis (27-2, 22 KOs), the mandatory challenger to the winner of Saturday night's bout.

In this Q&A with FanHouse, Khan continued to vocalize his desire to face Bradley, Alexander, interim WBA champion Marcos Rene Maidana (28-1, 27 KOs), Victor Ortiz (27-2-1, 21 KOs) and others while also entertaining a potential rise to the welterweight (147 pounds) division as part of his quest to be considered among the sport's best fighters, pound-for-pound.

FanHouse: Who are you interested in fighting next?

Amir Khan: I gave [Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer a list of fighters I wanted to fight. There was [Marcos] Maidana in there, and there was Victor Ortiz. And he's going to give me the best package for a fight where I can make the best deal.

At the end of the day, boxing is a business. So I've left it to Richard. I'm going to enjoy Ramadan. I've got a month off until I get back into training. So I've given Richard the names, and he's going to come back to me.

And after seeing the outcome of this [Marquez-Diaz] fight, I'll know exactly who I want to fight. There's Maidana, there's Victor Ortiz, I'm looking at the winner of this fight. There's Bradley as well and on that list. There's Michael Katsidis as well.

There's a lot of names on there. I'll fight anyone. But it's up to my promotional team. I've told them the names that I want to fight. It's up to them to get the names to me.


Is there a specific person or persons that you would like to fight?

There's guys like Maidana. I'd love to fight him just to shut him and people up. Because of my boxing skills, I know that I can beat him. I've got long arms, and I don't think that he'll be able to cope with the speed and the power. Also, there's other names like Michael Katsidis.

I think that that would be a great fight as well. Styles make fights, and I think our styles would make a very explosive fight. In the 140-pound division, at the moment, I think that there are a lot of fights that will make a big fight.

So let's just see what happens. You have Victor Ortiz there as well. You have Juan Manuel Marquez there as well. We'll just have to see what happens.

What does a Juan Manuel Marquez fight mean to you?

That's one of the reasons that I've come here, you know? To see Marquez fight and to beat him as well. We offered the fight to Marquez before I fought Paulie Malignaggi, and he refused the deal. He refused to fight.

So now, if he comes out of here with a good performance, and he wins this fight, I think that that would be a big fight and a big name for me to take on next.

Can you talk about the 140-pound division?

There are four big names in this division -- me, Maidana, Alexander and Bradley. We could all fight each other and make the people happy, but at the end of the day, we have to leave everything up to the promoters.

I'd fight anyone that you put in front of me, and I've told that numerous times to Golden Boy. So it's up to them who they get for me. But it's the most exciting division. Robert Guerrero wants to move up into the division I had heard.

And who is that other guy? The guy who is the WBC champion up at 147? Andre Berto. I heard that he's wanting to move down to 147 as well. Everyone knows that the 140-pound division is the best division to be in.

Everyone wants to move up or down into that division and fall into that division. You know, I don't want to leave the division until I unify the titles. And then I'll move up to 147. I'm a big 140-pounder, and I make the weight easy. I train very hard and I'm very dedicated.

There are fighters like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather who could probably move down into the 140 pound division. The 140-pound division is the best division at the moment. Everybody's talking about the 140-pound division of fighters.

I'm happy that I'm a natural 140-pounder and that I don't have to kill myself to make the weight. Once I unify the division, I know that I'll be one of the best fighters in the world because I'll be coming out of the 140-pound division.


Before your 11th-round knockout over Paulie Malignaggi, you listed yourself behind Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander, has that order changed?

Definitely. By far, definitely. After seeing Timothy Bradley fight, I think that he's made for my style. He's short, and I think that he's made for me to hit him. He's not as strong as me. I think that I would be the first guy to beat him up and knock him out.


So you came to this conclusion after watching him decision Luis Carlos Abregu?

Yeah. [Abregu] was catching him so many times. And that guy's not even the best. If he was fighting Amir Khan it would be a whole different story. I could say that right now I'm the best in the division.


How do you compare to Devon Alexander, who is fighting Andriy Kotelnik, whom you've already beaten?

I have to see how he does in his next fight against Andriy Kotelnik. But all of the guys that Alexander's fought? I'd beat them as well. When people ask me about the big three of the division [Khan, Bradley, Alexander,] I would have beaten all of the opponents they've beaten as well.

I still think that I would beat Devon, but he's one of the bet fighters because he's got the youth behind him and everything. You get a lot of guys calling you out, but I've got a great promotional team and I've left everything to Golden Boy.

I've given them who I want and why I want them. I've given them the names. If the fight is going to be big fight, then we'll take that fight. I want to unify the 140-pound division, and once I unify the division, I want to move up to 147.

I walk around at 146, 147 max. I'm a big 140-pounder, and I think that I'll fit into the 147-pound division quite well with the height and the reach and everything. But right now, it's all about the 140-pound division. I want to finish this division off first.