Amir Khan remains on course for showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr
• Briton lines up bout against Márquez, Maidana or Casamayor
• Golden Boy keen to capitalise on growing Muslim audience
Amir Khan has lost the race to fit in a defence of his WBA light-welterweight title on 31 July before observing Ramadan in August – but he remains firmly on course for a showdown next year with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
That scenario is some way off but underpins the strategy of his American business partners, Golden Boy Promotions, whose increasingly obvious presence in the UK has already stirred the rival promoter Frank Warren to complain about the Americans cherry-picking British talent.
Khan will now fight in December against Juan Manuel Márquez, Marcos Maidana or Joel Casamayor; after that, if Mayweather fails to deliver on his half-threat to retire and goes through with his mega-fight against Manny Pacquiao in November, Khan could fight either Victor Ortiz, a rising star at 10 stone, or move up to welterweight to chase Mayweather.
As a blueprint, it looks attractive; putting it into practice could prove tough. Golden Boy were originally keen to fill the July date with a Khan fight in the UK to twin with a promotion in Las Vegas featuring Márquez in a rematch with Juan Díaz for the WBO lightweight title and WBA's "Super" version at that weight. But Khan would have to rush his preparation, as well as come to terms over an opponent.
Another name put forward as an opponent with some enthusiasm since the weekend of Khan's 11th-round stoppage of Paulie Malignaggi in New York was the tough Australian Michael Katsidis who, only hours before in London, demolished Kevin Mitchell in three rounds at lightweight for the WBO's interim title.
While parlaying that little bauble into something significant would be harder than moving up in weight to challenge Khan, the champion's connections maintain Katsidis's negotiators are asking too much at $1m (£680,000), a claim the Australian's promoters find ludicrous.
Rejecting Katsidis would seem to make as much boxing sense, though, as husbanding a much larger part of the purse for the champion. Katsidis, as he showed against Mitchell, is a dangerous opponent anywhere around 10 stone.
Khan's preference, and that of his coach Freddie Roach, is Maidana, a big puncher but a naive boxer. They reckon it would be the easiest of the main three options on offer.
However, Márquez's connections to Golden Boy give him the inside running. He lost widely on points to Floyd Mayweather Jr last year but retains a significant Latino fan base.
Whomever Khan fights, he carries with him now a growing number of Muslim fans. There were at least 2,000 among the 5,000 who paid to watch him fight Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden, and Golden Boy are keen to capitalise on this new audience.
Khan is a dedicated Muslim, who completed a 14-day pilgrimage to Mecca four years ago. "It was an amazing experience that has brought me much closer to God," he said at the time. He followed it with a trip to America to see his idol, Muhammad Ali, whose attachment to Islam sprang from more radical roots in the 60s.
Michael Katsidis turns the tables on Amir Khan over ducking out
• Australian dismisses reports from Khan's camp
• Happy to fight Bolton fighter or John Murray
Michael Katsidis, who won a lot of friends by destroying Kevin Mitchell in front of his East End fans last month, is adamant he has not dodged proposed fights with Amir Khan and the rising Manchester lightweight John Murray.
The Australian of Greek heritage is angry at stories this week that he doesn't want to challenge Khan for his WBA light-welterweight title. Khan instead is considering a defence against the 38-year-old Cuban and former champion Joel Casamayor, who beat Katsidis in a thrilling fight in 2008 at lightweight.
Katsidis's manager, Brendon Smith, yesterday denied a UK report that his fighter had withdrawn from an agreement to fight Khan.
"I have never received an offer for Michael to fight Amir Khan," Smith told sportingreece.com, "but I did have a discussion with Richard Schaeffer [CEO of Golden Boy Promotions] who would love to put this fight on. He knows we are available on the proviso that Michael is paid accordingly and fairly – and not overpriced.
"I am confident in saying team Khan has viewed the tape of Michael with Kevin Mitchell and a cross went through Michael's name immediately as an opponent. Therefore, Joel Casamayor has now become a much safer choice."
Smith said he similarly had no contact from Murray's camp about a proposed fight. "The real truth is – and sorry to say it, England – your two great fighters have temporarily lost their balls and, unless they find them quickly, you won't be seeing Michael Katsidis in the opposite corner, and that is the truth."
Vitali Klitschko retains WBC title with stoppage of Albert Sosnowski
• 'My experience got me through' says Klitschko
• Sosnowski: 'I didn't have the energy to get up'
Vitali Klitschko retained his WBC heavyweight title with a 10th-round stoppage of the London-based Polish fighter Albert Sosnowski in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
The fight was largely unspectacular, with the Ukrainian world champion working behind his jab for much of the contest. He forced the finish by stepping up his work rate with a minute left of the 10th round, when he knocked the former European champion Sosnowski down with a right before the referee, Jay Nady, stepped in to stop the fight.
Klitschko said he was happy with his performance. "I was in good form," he said. "Sosnowski is younger than me, but people saw that I did well against him. My experience got me through."
The challenger said: "I am a bit disappointed, because I thought I had a good chance of winning this fight. I am okay now, it was a hard punch, but I was also quite tired and I just didn't have the energy to get up.
"I am grateful for this fight and I hope to have another shot at the title in future."
Manny Pacquiao leaves Manila hospital after all-clear on stomach pains
• Philippines congress member taken ill on Saturday
• Tests on Pacquiao's stomach revealed no problem
Manny Pacquiao has left a private hospital in Manila, two days after the seven-times boxing world champion was admitted with stomach pains and fatigue. "I'm OK now," Pacquiao told local television as he walked out of the Cardinal Santos Memorial hospital with his family.
Pacquiao, who won a seat in the national congress in elections on 10 May, said: "I was advised to take my medication and not to skip any meal. Nothing to worry about. I want to thank all those who have prayed for my recovery."
On Saturday night, Pacquiao complained of severe stomach pain and was taken to hospital the next day, where doctors said he could be suffering from ulcers and advised him to rest for two days.
Pacquiao underwent an endoscopy and other routine tests, and was given a clean bill of health. His chief of staff, Jake Joson, said: "The tests revealed nothing." It is not the first time the 31-year-old has suffered stomach ailments, having undergone similar problems in 2006 and 2007.
Pacquiao recorded his weekly television show today. He is due to leave for New York on 1 June to accept the Fighter of the Year award from the Boxing Writers' Association of America.
The boxer last week agreed to undergo random drug testing to help negotiations to arrange a fight with the undefeated American welterweight Floyd Mayweather, possibly in November.
Manny Pacquiao blood test stance brings Floyd Mayweather bout closer
• Pacquiao willing to take blood test 14 days before fight
• Compromise could bring Mayweather back to table
The Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao would be willing to take a blood test 14 days before a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr, reports in Manila have said, edging the two men regarded as the world's best pound-for-pound boxers closer to a showdown.
Talks between the fighters' camps stalled earlier this year over Pacquiao's refusal to agree to Mayweather's demands for Olympic-style random drug testing, with the Filipino saying he did not want blood drawn from him too close to a fight.
"Fourteen days is OK with me, as long as [the blood test] isn't done on the day of the fight, and only the right amount of blood will be drawn from me," Pacquiao has told Filipino media.
Pacquiao's compromise could bring the two camps back to the negotiating table for a fight many feel would have the potential to be the sport's richest ever.
Since talks broke down, Mayweather has eased to a decisive points victory over his fellow American Shane Mosley earlier this month in a welterweight non-title bout that drew 1.4m pay-per-view buyers.
That followed Pacquiao's mauling of Ghana's Joshua Clottey in March. The seven-weight champion has since been elected to congress back home in the Philippines and will need to fit his training regime in with parliamentary sessions after he is sworn in on 30 June. However, Pacquiao believes he is perfectly capable of being able to pursue both a boxing and political career.
"I will attend [congress] sessions in the morning until afternoon then I go to the gym around 4 or 5 pm," Pacquiao told the Manila Bulletin. "I will stay in the country during training camp then with two weeks before the fight, I will fly to the US."
Amir Khan is basking in New York glory after toppling Paulie Malignaggi
Boxing's quiet destroyer won hearts and minds with a methodical but lethal attack on his WBA light-welterweight challenger
Amir Khan joined the party when it was winding down, shortly after 3am at the Affinia Hotel across the road from Madison Square Garden, but he could hardly stop smiling through his lightly busted-up eyes.
He had arrived. He had conquered New York, or at least a bit of it. In the theatre of the Garden a few hours earlier, Khan had given Paulie Malignaggi a beating so one-sided that even the locals were impressed.
That, for me, was interesting. When Naseem Hamed won a six-knockdown war with Kevin Kelley in 1997 in the Garden proper, he became an instant hit with American writers and fans looking for excitement. Naz was so arrogant he had no qualms describing himself as a cross between Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali. They loved it.
Khan is not in that league of self-aggrandisement, although he is slipping into the third person more regularly. His popularity here is built on more conventional foundations: speed, power and, unless you'd forgotten, vulnerability.
The odds on his chin giving up on him at the highest level remain short but he has worked extraordinarily hard on his defence – which is why he will probably never be the wild, swinging, knockout king boxing craves. He is a quiet destroyer. As he said on Saturday night, he broke Malignaggi down methodically, taking few risks, keeping his punches straight and his concentration rock solid.
In the world that Freddie Roach has designed for him, there is little room for flamboyance. This is business. And business means Khan will stick to the rigid verities of the fight game, the chief one being that everything comes off the jab.
He has probably the most lethal jab in the world around 10 stone. It shoots from his shoulder like a bullet and is returned to its holster just as quickly, tucked up around his chin in partnership with his right glove.
Malignaggi, no slouch, had no answer to it. He was accused of not moving his head enough; it moved plenty when Khan's left smashed into it. But evasive head movement is not easy when a fighter is confronted by an opponent whose feet and hands are that quick. Khan moved in and out of firing range with lethal precision and Malignaggi, six years older at 29, could not match it.
So dominant was Khan through sheer speed that Malignaggi stopped boxing for long periods as he sought refuge in retreat. When he did advance, he was frequently met by a barrage that would have ripped a lesser fighter's head from his shoulders. He has some chin. And a great heart.
There are few places for Malignaggi to go now. For Khan, the possibilities are many.
I think Richard Schaefer, the chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions, will outvote Khan and his trainer, Freddie Roach, to get Michael Katsidis in a London fight with the WBA light-welterweight champion on 31 July.
Fighter and mentor say they want Marcos Maidana, who is a frightening puncher but not much of a boxer; they know Katsidis is a more dangerous mix of both, as he showed in not only battering Kevin Mitchell at Upton Park on Saturday night, but drawing the East End favourite into exactly the wrong sort of exchanges.
Mitchell, who said he had been distracted by private problems, walked into the firing line with little lateral movement and paid the price. He did exactly the opposite of what he did against Breidis Prescott. That night he boxed as well as he ever has done. Against the Australian, he lost the plot so quickly there was hardly a story to tell.
He will be back, because he has bags of heart and pride. That pride is seriously hurt right now and the only place to heal the wound is in the ring, his second home. Mitchell, unlike Khan, is a born rather than manufactured fighter. If the two ever meet, it will be a fascinating contest.
Meanwhile, Khan should get ready for some more smiling. He has plenty to be ecstatic about.
Amir Khan vows to be undisputed champion after beating Malignaggi
• Amir Khan vows to unify light-welterweight titles
• Frank Warren foresees Floyd Mayweather bout
Amir Khan has vowed to unify the light-welterweight division after retaining the WBA title with victory over Paulie Malignaggi.
Khan enjoyed an impressive US debut with an 11th-round stoppage of the New Yorker Malignaggi, who was outclassed throughout.
And the 23-year-old Olympic silver medallist quickly turned his thoughts to further victories. "I'm making 140lb easy, I feel strong," Khan said. "I'm not leaving 140lb until I unify the title. Until I'm No1 I'm not going to leave this division."
Afterwards, the promoter Frank Warren said Khan's reputation in the US had been enhanced.
Warren, who was Khan's promoter until their split in January, said the Briton will now be looking to face a tougher opponent and can see him stepping up a weight. He can also envisage a fight against Floyd Mayweather. "I can see it happening," Warren added. "Whether he would beat Mayweather is another thing altogether."
Speaking about the fight with Malignaggi, Khan said: "We stuck to the game plan, we knew Paulie is a very awkward fighter, he's a great boxer, great at moving.
"We had to break him down slowly, we didn't want to run in there trying to knock him out because we would have got caught with shots. I knew in the last few rounds I was hurting him and all I had to do was put the pressure on him."
Malignaggi paid tribute to Khan: "Amir just came and fought a very good fight, very busy, a lot of angles. He kept me at distance. When I turned pro I had a very similar style to Amir and I ran into a clone of myself, he was stronger, bigger and faster."
Amir Khan keeps his shape to beat Paulie Malignaggi
• Amir Khan stops New Yorker in impressive win
• Promoter hints at bout against Michael Katsidis
Amir Khan's world is blossoming with possibilities. Kevin Mitchell's has just imploded. Boxing: the cruellest sport.
Before this weekend's action they were destined to meet at some point in a classic, all-British promotion that would have made them both a considerable amount of money and left a defining mark on the sporting landscape.
As it stands the Bolton fighter, after blitzing Paulie Malignaggi in the final round for an impressive stoppage win, has the luxury now of choosing between an array of challengers for his WBA light-welterweight title – including Mitchell's conqueror at lightweight last night, Michael Katsidis.
Within hours of the Australian's stunning three-round win over the Dagenham lightweight at Upton Park, Khan was thrilling New York on his US debut at Madison Square Garden with an 11th-round stoppage of the awkward and willing Brooklyn fighter Malignaggi.
It should have been a hometown celebration; but it was muted by a lack of fans.
The Briton's US business partner, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, said afterwards: "I think Khan is probably going to be fighting 31 July in the UK. That's just before [Marcos] Maidana [whom Khan has been accused of ducking] fights.
"After that he'll come back to the States, but we'll have to discuss opponents. Another one of our fighters had a big victory in England tonight – Katsidis, who took care of Mitchell. Katsidis is always an exciting fighter, who can really rock the house."
Given they are all in the house-rocking business, it would be an attractive business proposition to lure Katsidis up to 10 stone from lightweight; Khan would have the double-edged motive of restoring British pride and proving he could do what Mitchell clearly failed to do.
Where Mitchell lost all discipline against Katsidis in what appeared from distance to be an exercise in anarchy, Khan kept his shape with admirable attention to small detail. It was, said the champion's trainer, Freddie Roach, "a great performance".
The champion beat Malignaggi to the punch time and again and rocked his head back in the second with a vicious jab-hook, a pattern that would be repeated throughout the fight.
There have been few relationships in modern boxing so brimming with synergy as that between Amir Khan and Roach. As the fighter bathed in the kind light of victory, his US trainer stood beside him, proud of the way his prodigy had just hunted down the New Yorker.
It was late and Roach, not long turned 50, was tired and elated at the same time. He dislikes dwelling on his struggle with Parkinson's Disease but it is clear Khan lifts his spirits to soaring heights. As his hand shook, his heart trembled.
What he and America witnessed was a young fighter methodically cutting down a tough if light-punching opponent, a man who has held world titles at this weight but who grew old and weary before our eyes. Khan could fairly have been awarded every round – as all three judges agreed.
Everything came off the jab. Khan landed more chin-busting lefts, 151, than Malignaggi did total punches, 127. It was that one-sided.
"We knew the jab was the key to the fight," the master strategist Roach said. "After the jab set him up, I said, OK, it's time to make that statement and knock him out. He went out and did exactly what I told him to do.
"He followed his instructions all night long. Paulie was a little more resilient than I thought he would be. He showed a lot of heart. I take my hat off to him, he took some big shots."
The argument for going the distance was stronger than Miguel Cotto's against Manny Pacquiao, but not by much. So, despite the objections of the ringside doctor, he came out to take another three minutes of punishment. It was his right to do so and he should be applauded for it, as he was still vaguely competitive.
The end was noble enough. The referee Steve Smoger dived between them at one minute and 25 seconds of the final session as Khan continued battering Malignaggi along the ropes. The beaten man did not object with conviction. His face told a story of ultimate resignation.
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