After WBO/WBC light welterweight champion Tim Bradley passed on a July 23rd unification bout with WBA champion Amir Khan, Golden Boy promotions and team Khan revealed in several interviews there were initially four possibilities as replacements.
The names mentioned by Khan and co were Erik Morales, Robert Guerrero, Zab Judah and Juan Manuel Marquez.
Four quickly became two however after Marquez signed to fight Manny Pacquiao earlier this week and Erik Morales also apparently declined the fight.
Khan team member Saj Mohamed confirmed yesterday:
“Bradley and Morales have both confirmed they dont want to fight Amir Khan that leaves Judah and Guerrero as Marquez is fighting Pacman”
Of the two undoubtedly the option that made most sense would have been Zab Judah, who holds the IBF light welterweight title.
Khan has stated numerous times in the past that his goal is to unify all four major titles, and Judah gets him one step closer.
Judah is also a big name in the United States where Khan is still developing a fanbase and a bout between the two would undoubtedly attract a lot of attention.
Zab however appears to have other ideas.
Asked about the possibility of fighting Khan by a fan yesterday, Judah gave this response:
“No khan we going bigger then that!! No disrespect!!”
Just who he could have meant by that isn’t clear given that the only two obvious bigger names than Khan in or around divisions he’s fought in would be Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather and Judah fought before and the former isn’t in the habit of giving rematches, which is beside the fact that he is currently and perhaps permanently inactive.
Pacquiao already has his next opponent lined up in Juan Manuel Marquez and if Bob Arum’s plans come to fruition may be fighting soon to be free agent Tim Bradley after that.
The only other names arguably even close to Khan in terms of fan interest and so purse money involved might be newly crowned welterweight champion Victor Ortiz or Juan Manuel Marquez, one of whom is already unavailable.
Contrastingly to Judah’s own remarks, in a recent interview with Lem Satterfield, Judah’s promoter Kathy Duva stated categorically that he would be ready for Khan in July. Advertisement
So just what Judah has up his sleeve for now will have to remain to be seen.
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Judah out then leaves only current lightweight two belt interim champion Robert Guerrero for Khan in July.
Guerrero comparatively to any of the other names mentioned by Khan is fairly obscure, and to make matters worse has never fought above lightweight, meaning that there would be very little to gain for Khan by beating him.
Guerrero isn’t as easy an opponent as he might first appear however, being large enough to adapt to 140lbs fairly easily and possessing the fundamentals if not the power to potentially give Khan problems.
Critics of the young Brit however would undoubtedly use the fact that Guerrero is a lightweight as a stick to beat him with, especially if the fight is a close one.
Despite Khan having named the opponents he was interested in, there also appear to be several viable names even within the confines of the light welterweight division that would make for interesting viewing.
Breidis Prescott is an option, if only to finally stop him from calling Khan out every time he is about to choose an opponent.
Marcos Maidana likewise doesn’t seem to have much on his agenda at the moment, but of course is a very risky proposition.
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On the safer end of the scale, previously considered Lamont Peterson is another potential option, provided that the two sides can agree on the money this time around.
For the moment though it seems that Guerrero, a fellow Golden Boy fighter, is the frontrunner.
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