Amir Khan is now expected to be named as Floyd Mayweather's next opponent after the Briton edged closest competitor Marcos Maidana in the poll organized by the undefeated American.
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and Ricky Hatton previously said that Khan has the right style to beat Mayweather. Former champion David Haye echoed the same prediction of Roach and Hatton on Tuesday.
In an interview with BoxingScene, Haye said that Mayweather is a tough nut to crack because of his superb defense, but a fighter who has tremendous speed and guts could put the reigning pound-for-pound king into trouble.
"Floyd Mayweather is the best fighter I've ever seen, he is mesmerizing," Haye said. "If anyone is going to have any success against Mayweather, he has to be fast. He needs fast hands and fast feet. You can't go at Mayweather and try to out-slug him, people have tried and every single one has failed."
And if there's one fighter who has the speed to give Mayweather a lot of problems, Haye believes its Khan.
The former two-division champion said that as long as Khan can continue pressuring the reigning pound-for-pound king every round, then he will have a good shot of handing Mayweather the first defeat of his storied career. But in order to maintain his aggressiveness for the entire match, Haye said that Khan should also be in perfect condition.
"The key is to have the speed, and more than that to maintain that speed throughout the fight. And if Amir is in the condition he's currently in - he's rock solid, he looks fantastic - then I definitely think he has a shot - he has more of a shot than anyone else in the past," Haye said.
The 36-year-old American will put his 45-0 record on the line on May 3rd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Haye said that the Grand Rapids native looked unbeatable in his recent fights. But if Mayweather overlooks Khan, then the Bolton native can finally put a blemish on the 36-year-old American's record.
"Mayweather does look unbeatable, but anything can happen in boxing," Haye said. "Many fighters have looked unbeatable in the past and all it takes is for that one man to be overlooked, and everybody is going to overlook Amir Khan. That's when you get those occasional upsets."
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