LAS VEGAS ? Well, what kind of week has it been here in Gomorrah-by-the-Desert?
Not exactly what you might figure. This is after all Las Vegas.
So here comes Amir Khan, the wunderkind of British boxing, across the Big Pond and into the Land of the Hard Six to square off Saturday against Zab Judah, who has lived through more boxing incarnations than Dorian Gray. The stakes are possession of the unified junior welterweight title of the world.
As many as 2,000 Englishmen have already begun their stay here, lured by the magnet that is their home-grown hero because this is a fight loaded with fascinating possibilities.
And just as the foreign and domestic media assembles, what do we get?
The return of the Dancing Mayweathers.
Here is Khan, as exciting a British fighter as we have seen in a long, long time. Here is Judah, crafty, ring-wise and riding the crest of his final hurrah.
But what did we get earlier this week?
The Roger and Floyd Show.
Roger Mayweather, uncle and trainer: ?The only reason Amir Khan has become the fighter he is, is because he got them steroids in the ass, too (like his stablemate Manny Pacquiao). I know because I?m friendly with people in his camp. I talk to them a lot and they told me so.?
Right.
Floyd: ?I want to invite all my English fans in town to come to my gym this week and watch me work out for my upcoming fight with Victor Ortiz. I love my English fans.?
If the above viewpoints are confusing, you may be excused on the grounds that both men are not speaking English. They are speaking in ancient Mayweather, a language some say can shift the meaning of its vocabulary on alternate days.
Both are already being sued by Pacquiao for defamation of character. Logic is not their strong point.
Freddie Roach, who trains both Kahn and Pacquiao, immediately responded with ?I would question Roger Mayweather?s education about steroids. I can promise you that none of my fighters, Amir and Manny included, has ever been to a drug chemist.?
At which point, Roger and Floyd quietly melted away ? for now.
As for Amir Kahn, he is a fighter with a lot to lose but even more to gain. This, for him, is a gateway fight. If he wins it, he gets Mexican superstar Erik Morales, wants one last 140-pound match after that and then says he will move up to 147 and expects to take on Mayweather.
Planning three fights ahead is not the smartest thing a fighter can do. What he has to do right now is concentrate on Judah. He also has to be aware that if he should lose, then all he had ahead of him falls into Judah?s lap.
