"Definitely, winning this fight is everything to me. I'm not looking past this Chris Algieri fight. I know it's a very dangerous fight for me. Stylistically he's very dangerous and I'm not going to be looking past it. If I do, I'll have made a mistake. I've looked past fights and made mistakes. It will put me right back where I don't want to be...Chris Algieri is a guy that if you make a mistake, he's going to make you pay for it," stated former world champion Amir Khan, who spoke to the media during a recent conference call to promote his upcoming May 29 clash with fellow former world champion Chris Algieri. Check out what else he had to say!
Q: Amir, you had a possibility of fighting Mayweather until he made the fight with Pacquiao. They've already mentioned your name as a next possible opponent. How critical is winning this fight toward preserving that dream of fighting Mayweather? Do you see it as part of the big picture?
A. Khan: Definitely, winning this fight is everything to me. I'm not looking past this Chris Algieri fight. I know it's a very dangerous fight for me. Stylistically he's very dangerous and I'm not going to be looking past it. If I do, I'll have made a mistake. I've looked past fights and made mistakes. It will put me right back where I don't want to be.
I have to be focused. I have to be disciplined in training camp, not looking past this Chris Algieri fight. I know there are big fights out there like Mayweather and stuff. I just have to stay focused and win this fight and go from there really.
Q: You call Chris "dangerous". He's not known as a big puncher. It could be a good boxing match. What do you see as the danger that Chris poses to you?
A. Khan: Technically I think overall he's a very good boxer, moves well. He makes a lot of fighters fall short. He's very skillful. You have to be on your "A" game to beat him.
I've been watching a lot of videos like Provodnikov. Even the Pacquiao fight, there's some good things he did there. It could be dangerous for me coming into this fight if I'm not on my "A" game. I have to be one step ahead and make sure I don't make any mistakes. Chris Algieri is a guy that if you make a mistake, he's going to make you pay for it.
Q: Amir, you were criticized heavily for taking this fight. What can you do in this fight to put your name up there to get the bigger fights again? What will you have to do? Are you going to have to knock out Chris to make a real impression?
A. Khan: Look, there's people putting this fight down, and I don't know why. At the end of the day, Chris has won a world title. He's been in the ring with Pacquiao in his last fight. He's a very good boxer, moves well, boxes well. I definitely have to be on my "A" game.
All this stuff what people are saying, they're probably thinking Amir thinks it's going to be a walk in the park, but he'll make a mistake and lose this fight.
I take every fight seriously. I've made that mistake in the past. For example the Danny Garcia fight. I've fought some fights that I thought are going to be a walk in the park; I got hurt, I lost the fight. I'm not thinking any fight is going to be easy. Every fight I walk into, every person in front of me is going to be in there to win the fight.
Listening to Chris Algieri, he seems he wants to win this fight. That motivates me and makes me train harder. I've got someone in front of me that wants to win this fight. I'm not really listening to what people are saying about future fights or where this fight can take me.
Q: There still is pressure on you to deliver because you have to send a message that you're still a big name.
A. Khan: Definitely there is. There's a lot of pressure on me in every fight because they want to see me perform. Obviously there's always the bigger picture of the other side. At the end of the day I'm still fighting the top guys and I believe Chris is one of the top guys in boxing.
Q: You were quoted on the weekend that saying Leonard Ellerbe has mentioned Mayweather to you. September is an issue. What would be your plan there? Would it be hoping he puts it back to November or could you fight late in September?
A. Khan: To be honest, I'm not looking past this fight. I'll tell you everything after the fight. At the moment what's on my mind is the Chris Algieri fight. I don't have anything else on my mind.
Q: Amir, you left Golden Boy after your contract ran out. You're with PBC now. What was your thinking behind making that move?
A. Khan: PBC I think is brilliant because it's going to give more fans the chance to tune in to get to see you. I think it's going to be good for the boxers. To be on Spike, the viewers are going to be great.
At the end of the day it's not like I'm making less money or anything. I'm still doing well financially. Obviously I'm getting more people to watch me fight hopefully on Spike and on PBC.
Q: Obviously your name has been linked with Mayweather not just the last three weeks but with the last three years. You're both with Haymon. Has he ever said what you need to do to get in the ring with Mayweather?
A. Khan: Mayweather is the best fighter in the world and in order to get that fight, you have to look good. You have to shine really. It's all about working hard, training hard, putting in good performances in the ring. To turn in the best performances in the ring, I can't take it easy in camp. I have to work very hard in camp and I have to be very focused. I have to be very focused.
There's been the word there for the last couple years that that fight was going to happen. But I'm going to be taking every fight one step at a time, hopefully put on great performances. If that fight comes, obviously it's something I've always wanted.
Q: Is that what he's saying to you?
A. Khan: Yes, Virgil my trainer, everyone has said, "You have a fight in front of you and Chris Algieri is no joke." I can't go into this fight thinking it's going to be easy. In boxing you can get beat and, there are always guys who are skillful and can beat you. I have to be that one step ahead. I can't really take this fight lightly and think it's going to be easy, lose my fight, then all my dreams are shattered to fight all the big names in boxing. Chris is a very dangerous opponent for me.
Losing this fight, it would ruin my dreams to fight the big names in boxing. I have to be focused on this fight. I'm fighting in his own backyard. I know what it's like to fight someone in their own backyard. When I fought Lamont Peterson, you have to try harder to win that fight. There will be a big crowd there as well. I have to be very focused, definitely keep the game plan strong, just win your rounds and win the fight.
Q: Amir, did you see anything in Mayweather that you would have taken advantage of, something you saw that other people didn't see? Did he look a step slower? Something you saw that you could take advantage of?
A. Khan: Yeah, I mean, I was there as a boxing fan. I'm only an hour away from Vegas. I went there to watch the fight. I enjoyed the atmosphere and everything.
Mayweather looked great. He did what he had to do to win the fight. His accuracy was nothing but the best. He was catching Pacquiao with some good, clean shots, whereas Pacquiao was falling short.
That's the way he fights. He's a very skillful fighter who is very patient and makes his opponent make mistakes. That's what I liked about him.
His world grade is dropping tremendously because of his age. But there are a few things I saw there which I have not seen before; when he takes a good shot, he doesn't panic. The only way to catch him is with speed, which Manny has. Pacquiao didn't use as much speed and explosiveness in the fight. I enjoyed it. I'm sure there were all those people who said he was never going to beat Pacquiao, well, he's been there and done that.
Q: One last point on Mayweather. Floyd Sr. said that Floyd would fight you next and it would be an easy fight and I was wondering what you think about that.
A. Khan: Floyd Sr. is going to say its going to be an easy fight. Before anything I have Chris Algieri in front of me. Maybe they don't want me to focus on my next fight. I have to be smart. I'm not going to let anything distract me in anyway. I am not going to think about Floyd's team or put me down. At the moment that fight is not happening. At the moment the only fight that is happening is between me and Chris Algieri. We are only three or four weeks away from the fight and it is crunch time.
Q: A lot of people want you to fight Kelly Brook, can you talk about the decision to take a different opponent who is not ranked as high?
A. Khan: I could have fought Kell Brook in the UK. I only want to fight in may. I don't want to fight in June because of Ramadan coming up. Either way, I'd be taking Ramadan off. I don't want to be going into Ramadan tired after a fight, going straight into Ramadan, fasting.
I like to give my body a break. I've done that before. I've had a fight and I've gone straight into Ramadan back-to-back. It's too much for a body to take. Obviously I need to look after my body.
Yeah, Kell Brook, the guy is a world champion, he should be fighting the likes of Bradley and the big names in boxing, like I'm doing. I'm fighting Chris Algieri, who just came out of the ring in his last fight against Manny Pacquiao. Kell Brook, his last fight, never heard of the guy he fought. Now he's fighting another no-name fighter without a ranking.
That name doesn't bother me anymore because he's not doing anything. The only reason his name gets pushed to me because he holds the title. If he didn't have the title, I don't think it would mean anything to me or boxing.
Q: Tell us your thoughts on Algieri as a fighter and give us some of your scouting report on him.
A. Khan: Chris Algieri just came off a win against Provodnikov. I saw it the other day. It was a very good fight. He boxed very smart against a guy who is a good pressure fighter and a big puncher. Then, against Pacquiao, one of the quickest fighters in the world.
I think if you look at the names of Chris Algieri's last few opponents and Kell Brook's last few opponents, the names will speak for themselves.
Q: Amir, focusing on this fight, what do you think your advantages are over Chris? You said you watched his fight recently with Provodnikov where he won. What do you think his advantages are?
A. Khan: Yeah, the speed, the movement, the power. Experience is something that I have on my side. I remember a couple years ago when I was fighting the guys who were a lot more experienced than me, I was going and beating those guys. Now I'm in a position where I'm one of the guys with most experience, fighting guys with less experience.
You can't take that lightly really because obviously I was once in Chris Algieri's position where I had one loss and I was going up against the top guys in boxing, and I beat those guys.
I can't go into this fight thinking it's going to be an easy fight or I'm going to win this fight because I was once in Chris Algieri's position, where I was getting people telling me, you're not going to make it, you're not going to win this fight. I was the underdog and I proved everybody wrong.
Q: Amir, you fought in New York before. Chris is going to be the hometown guy in this fight. You're well-known in New York, too. What do you think the effect is going to be having the fight in Brooklyn?
A. Khan: I always wanted to fight in Brooklyn. I fought at Madison Square Garden in 2009 against Paulie. From there, I always wanted to come back to New York. The fan base is huge.
It's like a second home for me. My wife lives in Staten Island. I spend a lot of time in New York. We live in England, but spend a lot of time in New York and America itself.
For me, every time I'm walking the streets of New York, I have everybody asking me, when are you going to be fighting again? We want to see you fight again in New York.
Also when I'm at Barclays Center, I've been there for a couple of the Nets games, people have always asked me, we need you back in New York. We need you to fight at Barclays Center.
I think it's time now. I promised them I would come back. I'm coming back fighting one of their home fighters. I know by fighting that home fighter you have to work a bit harder because he's going to have a little bit more fans than me.
But, I mean, time will tell. We'll see how it all goes. I'm going to be focused on everything. I'm going to stay calm and hopefully come fight night I'm going to be ready for everything that Chris Algieri brings to the table. I'm going to be ready, yeah.
Q: Amir, in Vegas over the weekend you were getting mobbed everywhere you went by fans. What are they saying to you at this point? They've been asking you about Floyd. Has that subsided or is that still the message?
A. Khan: Everybody was talking about that one big fight. "You should fight Floyd. You should fight Floyd."
I was telling them all, I'm fighting Chris Algieri next. That for me is a very tough fight. I need to win this fight if I need to go near any of the big names in fighting.
They were very supportive. I was getting a lot of respect in Vegas. But, like I said, this is time to fight Chris Algieri. I'm not going to be fighting Floyd Mayweather yet till I win this fight.
I was listening, being respectful back. Just meeting fans and greeting fans really.
Q: How inspiring was that to be part of the weekend? It was something quite special, wasn't it?
A. Khan: It was massive having two big names. I've been to both big fights. Normally you have a Pacquiao fight with big names. When you go to a fight with two big names, it was huge. Manny had the bigger crowd, it seemed to me. Floyd just did what he had to do. It was full of a high-profile people, celebrities and stuff. I sat amongst them. It's something I want to be doing one day, being in the ring, having millions of people in the world watching you and having high profile people watch you ring side.
Q: You had Adrien Broner in your ear. What was that all about?
A. Khan: I think he just wants to jump on the bandwagon really and get a little hype. I told my advisor Al Haymon to get me the fight with him before we even got the fight with Chris. Adrien to me seemed to not want the fight. In front of the cameras, he seems to want the fight, but when it comes down to signing the contract he didn't want to sign anything. When it comes down to signing the contract, he doesn't want the fight. Adrien didn't want it, so obviously I had to go on to someone else.
Q: Is it true that you've ruled out fighting in September if a Mayweather fight does come to pass? Will you not fight in September?
A Khan: No, no, I've not ruled out. It's possible I could fight in September, yeah. Ramadan is going to be a little bit earlier this year, so obviously it helps, gives me enough time to get the training done and everything. It can happen in September.
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