You'll be seeing more of former junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan on Showtime. Khan, in his first fight since being knocked out by Danny Garcia in a July title unification bout, stopped Carlos Molina on Saturday night in Los Angeles in his Showtime debut. It was Khan's first fight under the guidance of new trainer Virgil Hunter and also the first fight of a new three-fight deal Khan, 26, recently signed with Showtime. "It was offered to us and to Amir, and we liked the terms and decided to do it," Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com. "We want to do big fights with Amir and so does Showtime." England's Khan (27-3, 19 KOs), through Golden Boy and his own company, Khan Promotions, previously had an exclusive deal to appear on HBO, but that contract is over. Under the new Showtime deal, Schaefer said the remaining fights for Khan would likely take place in April and November. "There could be a rematch with Danny Garcia, but there are also other big names," Schaefer said. "Maybe a rematch with Lamont Peterson [who handed Khan a controversial split decision loss last December], maybe a Victor Ortiz, Devon Alexander or Andre Berto, when Amir moves up to welterweight." The timing of the fights in 2013, Schaefer said, will allow Khan time for his April wedding and also to observe Ramadan in the summer before returning in November. Schaefer said Khan's hands were quite sore following the pounding he dished out to Molina, but that there was nothing seriously wrong. "He got his hands checked out because they were swollen, but nothing seems to be broken," Schaefer said. "He is excited about the deal and we discussed some of the different possibilities for him next year." Stephen Espinoza, the executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, is a fan of Khan's and happy to have him on his network. "Amir Khan is one of the most talented and entertaining boxers in the sport today," Espinoza said. "He fights in weight classes that are deep in talent and compelling matchups, and he has shown that he is willing to fight anyone. Given Showtime's emphasis on the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions, it made sense for us to establish an ongoing relationship with Amir and Khan Promotions so that together we can bring boxing fans more of the high-quality, all-action fights that Amir has become known for." http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/2636/khan-signs-showtime-deal
i was kidding. I doubt HBO is interested in building another man's popularity through a walking knockout like Showtime is going to do in 2013. This strategy has a ceiling.
Funny that Garcia didn't get a HBO deal off the win If Showtime has both Khan and Garcia you know they want a rematch to happen
If they did for sure. If I set up a fantasy channel, money is no object etc etc, Khan is a fighter I immediately sign, dude can win stylishly and get KTFO. Win win.
Tough to care about this. I'll get excited when he rematches Garcia. I don't care to watch Khan get fed a bunch of blown up lightweights so he can get some bullshit belt.
lol, that silver belt? I was embarrassed for Khan when he got that. I've seen local club fighters, fighting for that shit.
Plus he targets a very different demographic. A friend of mine, Pakistani guy, in Toronto... was telling me, his dad and his uncles and shit, all get together to watch Khan fight. and he was saying, none of them have probably even watched boxing since Ali's time.. maybe a bit of Tyson, but that's it.
He needs to be fighting more than twice a year if he's on the comeback trail I think they're trying to make Khan the mandatory after Mathysse or if Garcia vacates then Mathysse vs Khan At least Khan won the belt...unlike Ortiz
