Yes Floyd ducked Khan. Amir Khan was his mandatory, they had been building up hype for years, and he won the poll. Floyd also avoided practically every prime talented young fighter at 147: Thurman, Brook, etc. Floyd generally preferred slower, cruder, come forward aggressive opponents and this was his pattern for the latter stages of his career with guys like Guerrero or Maidana. Khan would've been a refreshing change of pace given his hand speed and more outside style of boxing. It's an interesting matchup as Floyd rarely faces opponents with good speed outside of Judah or an old Pac. It really doesn't matter if he would've/could've beaten all of them, and I think he would've, but a duck is a duck. The only reason people excuse Floyd duckiñg Khan is because they don't like Khan. This is why boxing needs regulation, the best must be forced to fight the best.
I personally don't think he ducked Khan because they shouldn't have even fought in 2014. Khan did nothing to earn that fight besides win a poll. He wasn't a champion at 147. He looked good against Collazo but lousy his previous 4 fights. The time when the fight should have happened was 2012. If Khan didn't lose to Peterson, that fight happens in May 2012. In 2014 Khan wasn't the same name as he was in 2012. Maidana was a champion and had came off a big win beating Broner. He between the two deserved the fight more. On top of that, who is Khan to duck anyway? Khan wasn't some P4P great. He's not a future hall of famer to most people. I personally never got the narrative that Floyd saw something in Khan and avoided him.
maybe. floyd is a very insecure man, who knows what he thought about that fight. doesnt mean khan had any type of chance to beat him. amir did nothing better than floyd and was half as durable. khan was never on that level. not to say floyd fought only better guys, he didnt, but i never thought khan was any type of threat to floyd.
Floyd would’ve beaten him but he obviously didn’t fancy it for whatever reason. It would’ve been a big money fight so I don’t know why Floyd didn’t make it happen.
I have always felt that Khan's speed would have been highly problematic for Floyd and that's why he avoided him.
Maidana was a more difficult matchup stylistically for Floyd, so if you're suggesting Floyd was somehow afraid of Khan, I don't find that argument particularly compelling. Perhaps there was personal animus involved and Floyd didn't want to give Khan a payday. I don't know. What I do know, however, is that Floyd beat much better, far more dangerous opponents than Amir Khan.
Khan had great handspeed, but his boxing IQ was sorely lacking. Indeed, he didn't mix up the velocity on his shots enough, much like a baseball pitcher who doesn't change speeds effectively. After few rounds, Floyd would begin to sit on Khan's fastball, to use a baseball analogy, and once he got that timing down, he'd pick his shots and outbox Khan. Many of you are also forgetting that Floyd had great handspeed as well, faster at any rate than any of Khan's previous opponents, and his punch selection and placement were absolutely top shelf.