Mayweather-Khan in Late 2011? Schaefer Says It’s a Possibility

12 months from now, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer sees Amir Khan as a potential PPV opponent for Floyd Mayweather if the Manny Pacquiao talks continue to fail.

While a popular fighter in his native UK, Amir Khan will only be making his second U.S. appearance for Golden Boy on December 11 against Marcos Maidana. But Schaefer believes the 23-year-old, WBA junior welterweight champion has potential to be a crossover star. By September 2011, he predicts Khan can become a PPV attraction and therefore a suitable adversary for Floyd Mayweather.

“If we can’t make Mayweather-Pacquiao in the spring it may be too late,” Schaefer told the Daily Mail, alluding to the previous failed negotiations between the two. “So this gives us time to build Amir into a pay-per-view superstar in the US.”

Mayweather has not competed at junior welterweight since 2005, meaning that Amir Khan would likely have to move up to welterweight to make the fight happen. Currently, Khan has expressed his desire to unify the 140 pound division with the winner of the proposed Devon Alexander-Timothy Bradley fight by mid 2011.

At press time, Mayweather is taking a hiatus from the ring and will not fight again for the rest of the year. Manny Pacquiao faces Antonio Margarito on November 13.

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Mayweather fighting someone not named Manny Pacquiao in his next bout is not going to fly with anyone.

A lot can happen in a year. But the likelihood of Amir Khan becoming a big PPV star in America is very small. Right now, there are only two viable PPV stars in boxing, and that’s Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. And it’ll likely stay that way until they retire. Khan can establish himself as a Top 10 Pound for Pound fighter by unifying junior welterweight, but that’s not going to cross him over.

And then there is the weight issue. Mayweather coming in at 146 for the 142 pound catchweight against Juan Manuel Marquez last year shows he’s now a full-fledged welterweight. For a Khan bout to be seen as credible, he’d have to go on a tear in the welterweight division before facing Floyd. That’s means taking out guys like Andre Berto or a Luis Collazo. And with Khan having unfinished business at 140, he simply doesn’t have enough time to get in the fights needed to build himself up by Schaefer’s timeline.

This brings us back to the only PPV fight that matters in boxing, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Until it happens, each man will have a glaring question mark over their careers.