The stakes are extremely high for Amir Khan and Devon Alexander on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
With a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight as unlikely to materialize as ever, the winner of the Khan-Alexander 12-round welterweight bout at MGM Grand will become one of Mayweather’s top options for his return to the ring in the spring. Khan (29-3, 19 KOs), a huge star in his native England, thought he would land a showdown with Mayweather on May 3, which caused him to withdraw from a fight against Alexander that tentatively was scheduled for Dec. 7, 2013.
Khan is about a 2-1 favorite over Alexander (26-2, 14 KOs), yet hasn’t allowed himself to become distracted by the thought of a career-defining fight versus Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs).
“Devon, he’s a very dangerous opponent for me at this stage and I can’t really look past it,” Khan said on a recent conference call.
Alexander, a southpaw from St. Louis, is annoyed Khan is considered the favorite in the main event of a four-fight Showtime telecast scheduled to start at 9 p.m.
“I don’t see anything special in Khan,” Alexander said. “He’s a little fast ? but you’ve got to have something else in your arsenal at the top level.”
FIFTH FIDDLE: Keith Thurman would prefer to fight Khan or Alexander on Saturday night to earn a shot at Mayweather.
The heavy-handed, undefeated, interim WBA welterweight title-holder has settled, however, for participating in the third-most-meaningful welterweight fight in Las Vegas this weekend.
With Khan-Alexander on the schedule, and Timothy Bradley and Diego Chaves set to meet a short trip down Las Vegas Boulevard at The Cosmopolitan (HBO), Thurman (23-0, 21 KOs) will battle Italy’s Leonard Bundu (31-0-2, 11 KOs) on the Khan-Alexander undercard at MGM Grand.
With a light-punching, 40-year-old opponent in front of him, the Clearwater, Fla., native intends to leave a lasting impression.
“When you’ve got that many welterweights performing the same night, there’s going to be a lot of talk,” Thurman, 26, said.
“Twitter and all the social media are going to go crazy around midnight, and I’m looking forward to it. ? I do put in my head, in the back of my mind, that not only do I want to win, but I would like to outperform every welterweight that steps in the ring that night.”
RODRIGUEZ’S RETURN: Time permitting, a six-round junior welterweight bout between Hasbrouck Heights’ Julian Rodriguez and Randy Fuentes will be broadcast by UniMas on Saturday night from 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
The 20-year-old Rodriguez (7-0, 6 KOs), one of boxing’s top prospects, has won five straight fights by knockout or technical knockout. Fuentes (4-3-1), of McAllen, Texas, has not been beaten by knockout or TKO during his three-year pro career.
This UniMas telecast is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m., with an eight-round super middleweight match that’ll pit Philadelphia’s Jesse Hart (15-0, 12 KOs) against Samuel Miller (28-9, 25 KOs), of La Habra, Calif. Felix Verdejo (15-0, 11 KOs), a highly touted lightweight from Puerto Rico, and Spain’s Karim El Ouazghari (16-5-2, 4 KOs) are set to square off in the eight-round main event.
For tickets ($75, $50) to the nine-fight card, call 215-765-0922.
Twitter: @Idecboxing
