The Bolton-born fighter is moving up two-weight divisions to take on WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez this Saturday in Las Vegas.
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“Mayweather’s feeling that now, he’s feeling like no-one’s talking about him, that he’s old news, and maybe that’s why he’s trying to get everyone supporting him again by saying “I want to make a comeback”, Khan added. “I’m in a position where I’m growing up now and getting stronger, and I’m knowing and getting to understand boxing a lot better now, and having a good team around me with Virgil and the team, I think that helps, also, so I just needed that big fight now because that was something that was only going to give me more confidence and kind of give me that more drive”.
The team guiding his career, including father Shah, was criticised when it stalled during that period but they have since delivered the Alvarez fight, which Khan believes vindicates the faith he has shown in them.
Though he is aware of how hard the Canelo fight will be for Khan, Ricky believes Amir has a chance to go down in British boxing history.
“My track record with fighters I’ve personally developed, they don’t lose much”.
Britain’s former two-time champion struck out in several negotiations for a possible fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao before finally getting himself a big fight against Alvarez, who is ranked No. 7 in the pound-for-pound list.
The 29-year-old Khan accepts he’s the underdog against Alvarez, who has won his last four fights since losing to Mayweather by majority decision in 2013, but feels he has the tools to pull off an upset.
“I’ve always been a UFC fan and I like McGregor”, Khan said.
But he will use the fairytale story of 5,000-1 shot Leicester winning the Premier League as inspiration.
“This is similar to what I am going in to with this fight against Canelo, because I am the underdog”.
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“Canelo is a great champion, in his prime, very skilled and I will need to be at my very best to beat him”.
