The farce surrounding Amir Khan’s search for his next opponent continues and it appears his management team are not making any friends in the boxing world after Paul McCloskey criticised the WBA light-welterweight champion’s camp, claiming they showed a lack of respect to potential opponents.
The Irishman had entered into a second round of talks with Khan in a bid to finalise the fight after fans called for them to continue negotiations despite initial discussions breaking down – but the finer details of the contract scuppered the deal at the final hurdle and now McCloskey has turned his focus elsewhere.
The undefeated European champion had hoped to get a shot at Khan’s title, in a fight that would have had massive appeal in the UK and in Ireland, but the Bolton boxer’s team have made the potential clash “impossible” to make.
McCloskey told Fanhouse UK: “Their demands were too much and they made it impossible to accept the fight. When we rejected the first offer, they came back with an improved offer which didn’t really improve.
“They’re very disrespectful toward fighters and they have to respect the man that’s going in there to fight them – they have to value him. We’re talking about world championship boxing and there has to be a line, a fair line at that.” TweeterFacebookFourSquareiPhone There certainly seems to be a sense of naivety surrounding Khan Promotions as they look to promote their man independently for the first time since he picked up his world crown.
Khan was originally managed shrewdly by Frank Warren but split with the British promoter to go it alone, before agreeing a deal with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions in the United States.
But with his eagerness to defend in England in April, Khan’s team have taken on responsibility of promoting his next clash, but they seem to be scrimping on purses to reap as much reward for themselves as possible.
“They were very awkward to work with. They are going to find out, when you’re fighting people for world titles, there are two boxers in there and they deserve good money,” claims McCloskey.
“Obviously with Khan being the champion he’s going to get more, but the terms I believe I should be getting were a lot less than what was being given.
“My promoter Barry Hearn has loads of experience promoting world title fights, these (Khan’s team) is their first time promoting a big fight themselves – they’re still learning the ropes and Barry thought it was a dreadful offer.”
There certainly seems to be plenty going on behind the scenes in the Khan camp, as it’s not only potential opponents who are criticising the world champion.
The 24-year-old’s team have been heavily criticised by ex- conditioning coach Alex Ariza, the man the Bolton boxer praised for getting him through his gruelling encounter with Marcos Maidana last December.
Ariza, who also works with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, was sacked by Khan Promotions but responded with a bitter attack – claiming his contract was stolen by his former employers and that he has not been paid for his work.
While the January transfer window in football sees agents trying to move players on and get as much financial reward as possible, it seems a similar situation is occurring with Khan’s team.
There’s no doubt his promoters have his best financial interests in mind, but Khan’s boxing career still needs to be managed well if he is to have a legacy in the sport.
The Bolton boxer will suffer without the skills of a talented man like Ariza, who has helped Pacquiao move up weight divisions seamlessly, and turned Khan from a weak-legged boxer into a durable and super-fit fighter who withstood hefty punishment from the big-hitting Maidana last year.
Khan also needs a decent opponent for his April 16 date at the MEN in Manchester to help him iron out some mistakes he made against Maidana before he begins his pursuit of unifying the division in a potential summer clash with Timothy Bradley.
WBO champion Bradley defeated Devon Alexander to add the WBC belt to his repertoire on Saturday night and Khan will go into a clash with the American as underdog.
Therefore, the British boxer needs a stern test in April to prove his worth, but his team need to get the cheque book out and start adding a few zeros before that will happen. Read More: Other Sports Amir+Khan, Devon+Alexander, Frank+Warren, Manny+Pacquiao, Marcos+Maidana, Oscar+De+La+Hoya, Paul+McCloskey, Timothy+Bradley
