How six-word statement cost Amir Khan super-fight with Floyd Mayweather after boxing legend ‘spat his dummy out’
AMIR KHAN claims a six-word statement cost him a super-fight with Floyd Mayweather – and the millions of pounds that came with it.
The boxing rivals spent several years linked with a mega-bout only for Khan to be brutally snubbed by Mayweather.
But the British boxing legend insisted there was a deal in place for the two to fight at one point in time.
That was until Khan made the costly mistake of announcing the fight first – causing egomaniac Mayweather to KO the clash before it got over the line.
He told Gambling Zone: “One of the biggest regrets of my life was with Floyd Mayweather, I was in the prime of my career and we did the deal to fight, we had a contract.
“I decided to announce it first and then Floyd spat his dummy out, he said ‘why have you announced it first?’
“He thought he was the big star and it was up to him to announce it. I made that mistake, I posted ‘guys, I’m fighting Floyd Mayweather next’ and he got very bitter that I jumped the gun and it was off.
“I was young, 24 or 25, and I got excited about fighting a legend in the sport. But it is what it is.”
Mayweather even ran a social media poll in 2014 to decide who he should face next, with Khan beating Marcos Maidana in the results.
But despite Khan winning, still Mayweather chose Maidana, who the 2004 Olympic silver medalist had defeated on points four years prior.
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The American, 47, icon ultimately retired in 2017 after beating UFC superstar Conor McGregor, 35, in ten rounds of their crossover clash.
Meanwhile Khan, 37, hung up his gloves following bitter defeat to arch enemy Kell Brook, 37, in February 2022.
He refelected: “The saddest time in boxing for me was probably my last fight against Kell Brook, to see myself leave the sport that way.
“You always want to finish on a high note, and obviously I didn’t finish on a high note. Obviously for me that was the saddest moment.
“But maybe that’s God’s plan that I will now start to finish on a high note against Mayweather or Pacquiao now Saudi are opening doors.
“But the Brook fight was the saddest moment. It hurt a lot because of the rivalry and I was a better fighter than him and I achieved a lot more than him in the sport.
“But saying that, it would have hurt a lot more if I had lost to him at my peak.
“I have it in the back of my mind that I could have beaten him in prime, everyone knows that. But we’re friends now, he was the better man on the night.”