Khan v Maidana Doubtful

Just appeared on ESPN......

The junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan and interim titleholder Marcos Maidana have been given a two-week extension to see if they can work out an agreement for their mandatory fight, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com.
Golden Boy signed England's Khan to a promotional deal last weekend and co-promotes Maidana with Universum, one of the leading promoters in Germany.
The WBA had scheduled a Monday purse bid for Khan-Maidana in their offices in Panama before agreeing to the extension.
There was some confusion, however, because several media outlets reported that the sides had made a deal after the WBA announced on its Web site that the purse bid had been canceled because they struck a "tentative agreement" for the bout to take place "approximately" at the "end of March or beginning of April."
That is not the case, Schaefer said. He said Golden Boy asked for the extension, which is why the purse bid was called off, not because a deal for the fight had been made.
"Amir Khan just changed promoters and is with us now, so we asked the WBA to allow us to discuss things with him to see what he wants to do and so we can speak with our co-promoters with Maidana to see if we could come to terms without a purse bid, or work out a situation acceptable to both parties, and that was granted. We have two weeks to see what we can work out. If we can't work anything out we will go to a purse bid."
Freddie Roach, Khan's trainer, would prefer for Khan to face somebody else in his next fight rather than the big puncher from Argentina.
One possibility, according to Schaefer, is for Khan, who wants to fight in the United States, to make an optional defense with Maidana fighting on the undercard, before eventually matching them.
"A situation where they are on the same card would make sense. Let's build up the fight," Schaefer said. "We want to explore what other fights are out there."
Schaefer has discussed a match between Khan and former titlist Paulie Malignaggi with Malignaggi promoter Lou DiBella, but said that Khan facing Maidana is still possible for his next bout.
"Amir has not said to me, nor has Freddie said to me, that they are afraid to fight Maidana," Schaefer said. "But at this point of his career, there are other bigger names out there."
Schaefer mentioned Malignaggi along with former lightweight titleholders Juan Diaz and Nate Campbell, both of whom are promoted by Golden Boy, as potential opponents.
"If they are not available, Khan is not saying he won't fight Maidana," Schaefer said. "We have two weeks to figure it out."
The 23-year-old Khan (22-1, 16 KOs), a 2004 British Olympic silver medalist and the 2007 ESPN.com prospect of the year, won a 140-pound belt in July with a dominant decision victory against Andreas Kotelnik. Khan made his first defense on Dec. 5, stopping outgunned mandatory challenger Dmitriy Salita in 76 seconds.
Maidana (27-1, 26 KOs), 26, lost a debatable split decision to Kotelnik in a February 2009 title challenge before making a name for himself in June, when he stopped rising prospect Victor Ortiz in the sixth round in an HBO main event to claim the vacant interim title. Maidana has made one defense, a third-round knockout of William Gonzalez in November.
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.

 

Looks like Maidana may be Khan's fourth choice!!

 

Khan v Maidana has the makings of a classic....this looks bad on Khan if he bails out.

 

very true, he hates the thought of Khan going in with big hitters

 

GBP want to exploit Khan for as much money as possible before risking another loss