After months of false starts and negotiations collapses, Amir Khan and Devon Alexander have finally agreed in principle to face each other on December 7. However, the two fighters have yet to confirm where the fight will take place.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer confirmed the news to the LA Times, stating the preferred location is still Dubai, which Khan is pushing for. Alexander, whose IBF welterweight title will be on the line, has expressed reluctance to fight outside the U.S.
The “backup” location will be Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, with whom Golden Boy has an exclusive boxing agreement.
The winner of Khan-Alexander is expected to be the frontrunner to face Floyd Mayweather in early 2014 should the latter defeat Canelo Alvarez on September 14.
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Finally, some progress on this fight. Dubai appears to be a long shot, so I’d wager they’ll save time and money and just put it on at the Barclays. Brooklyn is a neutral location and neither side could argue favoritism. As for the fight, I’ll be pulling for Khan. Even with all his faults, he’d put up a more exciting fight against Mayweather before eventually going out on his shield. I get the feeling Golden Boy and Showtime prefer that scenario too, as they easily could have made Mayweather-Alexander for September. When that scenario was making the rounds via Mayweather’s Twitter comments, the fan reaction was very negative.
With that said, it’s very hard to envision Khan beating Alexander after how he looked against Julio Diaz. The reckless Khan that we saw up to the Danny Garcia fight has a much better chance than the “disciplined,” Virgil Hunter version we’ve been seeing.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 