BOXING: LIGHT-WELTERWEIGHT:AMIR KHAN is aiming for a showdown against Timothy Bradley after his World Boxing Association (WBA) light-welterweight title defence against Paul McCloskey ended in bedlam and with the challenger's camp demanding a rematch.
The unification fight with Bradley, the World Boxing Organisation and World Boxing Council champion, should happen in late July in either Las Vegas or Los Angeles, where Khan is based.
According to Oscar De La Hoya, the founder of Golden Boy, one of Khan’s three promoters for this contest, the deal is close to completion.
“We signed a multi-year deal with HBO and Amir Khan and we’re going back to the States,” he said. “The fight that HBO wants, the fight that we want, is Bradley to unify the titles. And that’s the fight the public wants.”
Khan added: “I’m going to leave it to Oscar and the team to go back to America and see what we can do for a unification.”
After a farcical fortnight which was a public-relations disaster for Khan and cost him €1.8 million when this fourth defence was switched from Sky Box Office to the little-watched pay-per-view Primetime channel, the 24-year-old from Bolton will be content to continue his dazzling rise away from these shores.
Although McCloskey’s chance of getting a rematch is unlikely, as this was a voluntary defence, the 31-year-old Northern Irishman deserves a thought. He took a cut to his left eye in a clash of heads in the sixth round and Louis Pabon, the referee, might have ruled that his corner should be allowed to dress the wound.
Instead, the Puerto Rican official told the doctor to examine the gash. The medic stopped the contest and the scorecards were consulted. All three judges had Khan leading 60-54, which was an accurate reflection of his domination, and he could close this messy chapter of his career.
But this had not been vintage Khan. His work was sluggish, with only the odd flash of his quicksilver fists.
McCloskey may, indeed, have forced an upset courtesy of the crazy-paving angles from where the southpaw unloads his shots.
Yet, Khan nearly levelled the European champion with a heavy blow and McCloskey looked to be heading for the first knockout of his previously unbeaten, 22-fight career.
After McCloskey’s promoter, Barry Hearn, led a ring invasion to berate Pabon, the Matchroom owner’s son, Eddie, who oversaw the promotion, said: “I’ve spoken to Robert Smith from the British Boxing Board of Control – they will launch a full investigation with the WBA, and ask for a rematch.”
When asked if he thought the stoppage had been fair, De La Hoya said that he was not a doctor.
But he did add: “Yes, everybody wants a rematch. And you never know, right? Not in this game. Does he deserve a rematch? Yes, he does. But now we have to go and unify the title.”
Smith, too, said a rematch was unlikely. “I’m waiting for a complaint from Barry Hearn. Then I will write to the WBA and say Paul McCloskey was unfortunate and that he deserves a rematch. But I don’t think it will happen.”
Factored into the ill-feeling was Khan’s accusation that McCloskey had wanted his challenge ended in the sixth round.
The Derry man responded by saying: “The doctor looked at my eye and I asked: ‘How was it?’ He said: ‘Quite bad’. So I thought it was. I walked over to my corner and it was wiped by a towel and it stopped right away. So why was I stopped? Why was the doctor in the ring? He just jumped through the ropes. He wasn’t asked to come in.”
For Khan, the US and the lucrative payday he missed here await. Following the disastrous promotion overseen by his own Khan Promotions, Hatton Promotions and Golden Boy, the platform on which any meeting with Bradley will be screened is intriguing.
Khan’s camp require some serious bridge-building with Sky, while De La Hoya has claimed they are ready to work with Primetime again.
GuardianService
