Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said Monday a deal had been finalized for boxer Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KOs) to face IBF Welteweight Champion Devon Alexander (25-1, 14 KO) on December 7.
“Both of them want to fight this year,” stated Schaefer, as reported by Daily Mail.
Interestingly, Golden Boy is leaning towards Dubai as the location with New York’s Barclays Centre as a backup option, according to Martin Domin of the Daily Mail.
Dubai Dubai is a global city and a business and cultural hub of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region.
Having experienced tremendous growth the past two decades, Dubai boasts the world’s largest concentration of five-star hotels and may be on par with Las Vegas in economic diversification and development, and as an international travel destination.
Khan vs Alexander The slippery and perhaps underrated Alexander boast wins over Marcos Maidana, Lucas Matthysse, Andreas Kotelink, Juan Urango and Junior Wiiter, only losing to current Top 10 pound-for-pound fighter Tim Bradley (Jan 2011). So although he’s not a crowd-pleaser, stylistically, the 26 year old Alexander has faced ? and beaten ? some high-level opponents and is on a four fight win streak.
Can he handle the size, speed and power of Amir Khan?
Like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya before him, Khan seemingly had all the attributes to become an international star and transcend the sport of boxing. In similar fashion to the aforementioned legends, Khan is an Olympic medalist, fights in a crowd-pleasing style, has tremendous speed and skill and has an innate charisma few athletes possess.
He showed true grit in a grueling but entertaining scrap against KO artist Marcos Maidana in December 2010, winning a hard-fought decision in a battle of attrition and Fight of the Year candidate.
The following year, he notched a win against Paul McCoskey and orchestrated a dominating stoppage of a resurgent, still potent Zab Judah.
Heading into his December 2011 bout with Lamont Peterson, Khan was bantered as a possible opponent for Floyd Mayweather and viewed by some as the sport’s next great megastar.
But shocking setbacks, in bouts with Peterson and Danny Garcia, followed by unpopular excuses for losing, conspiracy theories and disparaging statements about former trainer Freddie Roach have blemished his once ‘golden boy’ image.
But like him or not, Amir Khan, like Devon Alexander, is very underrated. The loss to Peterson could have gone either way and he was manhandling an elite fighter in Danny Garcia until one dynamic punch changed everything.
Perhaps attempting to start anew, the Brit of Pakistani heritage is lobbying for the Alexander bout to take place in Dubai in what would be Amir’s welterweight debut. And if the fight takes place there, Amir, despite being British, will likely enjoy something resembling a significant home field advantage as he has developed a decent fan base in the Middle East.
As quoted by Daily Mail, Khan insisted, “I do have a lot of fans in the Middle East and especially in the UAE. Maybe he (Devon Alexander) does feel that everyone will be against him if we fight in Dubai. But I can assure it will be a fair fight, obviously. If it happens, it will be a global event.”
Will Amir Khan resurrect his career when he faces the very slick Devon Alexander?
Khan vs Alexander is on tap for December, in Dubai or Brooklyn.
