December 11th, 2010 will forever go down as a memorable night in the career of WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan. Fighting inside of the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, the British star would gut out a spirited decision over Argentinean brute Marcos Maidana, surviving a late round rally and answering several suspicions about his heart and chin.
It’s unknown whether or not Khan has any lingering effects or haunted memories from that night, as the bombs he took from Maidana were very much for real, but if he is to continue his career with a major upswing he very well may have to do battle at the same location yet again later this year. If successful in his next fight, an April 16th date against Paul McCloskey at the M.E.N. arena in Manchester, Khan looks be be headed back to the Mandalay Bay to do battle with IBF and WBO champion Timothy Bradley.
The news was reported by the always-reliable Lem Satterfield, who is in Vegas now covering this weekend’s Fernando Montiel-Nonito Donaire bantamweight championship bout, as he got word from Bradley’s manager Cameron Dunkin. BoxingScene’s Rick Reeno had reported that Gary Shaw, Bradley’s promoter, had met up with Golden Boy Promotions, who oversees Khan, last week in Los Angeles and that nearly all points were verbally agreed to on the fight.
“They’ve already given out a date and they’ve given out a place, which is going to be right here at the Mandalay Bay,” Dunkin stated. “Our guy is ready to go. We just want to go over the financial terms and eveything and all of the things that go around with the fight.”
Newsflash: Alex Ariza speaks on Khan, Pacquiao, Chavez rumors
Bradley is coming off of a January 29th technical decision over Devon Alexander in Pontiac, Michigan. Bradley controlled much of the action in that fight by smothering his southpaw foe and had success firing shots from close distance. An accidental clash of heads would impair Alexander’s vision in the 10th round, with the fight being sent to the scorecards moments later.
Las Vegas definitely seems like an ideal location to stage a fight of such importance, as any champion looking to make a lasting impression in the sport will seemingly one day have to fight under the bright lights of Nevada. While Bradley, who hails from Palm Springs, California, isn’t a huge draw in his home turf he should be able to pull some people into the Valley for a fight of such importance. Khan is looking to be the type of bona fide attraction that his countryman Ricky Hatton was and there is not a better fight out there for him to make another mark.
Not so fast, says Arum
I spoke with Bradley’s manager Cameron Dunkin moments ago to get his take on the situation and he offered some unusual remarks.
Apparently Dunkin was talking to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum about this weekend’s Fernando Montiel-Nonito Donaire clash at the Mandalay Bay. Dunkin also manages Donaire but Arum seemed more interested in discussing the possibility of a Khan-Bradley fight.
Arum told Dunkin that he doesn’t think the bout is going to come off despite reports that it is pushing forward. Arum asked why Bradley would even consider a guy like Khan in his next fight. It’s no secret that Bradley will soon be a free agent and he is someone Arum would love to add to his roster.
Arum has been in the middle of a feud with Golden Boy Promotions for a while now and would rather see Bradley in the ring with someone like Manny Pacquiao as opposed to a guy like Khan, who is with Golden Boy.
Despite Bob’s warnings, Dunkin seems to feel the Khan-Bradley fight is close to being done.
“HBO thinks they have it, Gary Shaw thinks they have it, and a lot of other people think the fight is almost done. I don’t know why Bob is saying that. Maybe he has some insight that I don’t have but Bob just likes to piss on what everybody else is doing it seems.”
