Wiser Amir Khan Eyeing Floyd Mayweather and Pound-for-Pound Glory

Amir Khan speaks these days with a quieter brand of confidence, much of the brashness of his younger days a distant memory replaced with a fierce desire to prove himself with his fists and not his words.

The 28-year-old former unified junior welterweight titlist will get his chance to do that and more on Saturday night when he faces two-time former welterweight champion Devon Alexander in a fight with huge implications for the future of the 147-pound division.

Khan understands that an elusive crack at pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather could be on the table for the winner but that he needs to focus on Alexander and let the chips fall as they will.

“I have a tough task [Devon Alexander] in front of me. It’s going to be a tough fight, and I want to win this fight. And not only win it, but win it in good style, in good fashion,” Khan told a media conference call on Monday.

“I want the boxing fans and the world to demand the fight between me and Floyd. I want people to demand it. When they see Amir Khan in such a good fight, they’re going to be like, he should fight Mayweather. I don’t just want it to happen, I want people to demand it.”

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Winning significant fights over upper-tier welterweights is certainly the way to go if you want to generate interest and demand in a fight of that magnitude.

Khan was originally supposed to face Alexander for the IBF Welterweight Championship around a year ago this time.

Call it tunnel vision or foolishness, whatever you like, but Khan was big-game hunting at the time.

Rather than risk his chances of landing Mayweather against the slick and tricky Alexander, he pulled himself from the fight to continue the hunt.

Swing and a miss.

The chase failed to bear fruit, despite Khan winning Mayweather’s supposedly binding fan poll to choose his next opponent.

Adding some salt to the wound, Marcos Maidana, who Khan had previously beaten, both in the ring and in the poll, struck gold and got not one but two Mayweather fights.

So, does he regret the chase?

Nope.

“I think every fighter in the welterweight division wants that big fight against Floyd Mayweather to see how they’d do against the best fighter," Khan said.

“You have to just go with the flow. Going into this fight, I don’t look as winning this fight could lead to a massive fight. But to be honest with you I’m not looking past this fight because I know it’s a dangerous fight for me, and I’ve made that mistake in the past.”

Khan has been working to refine his game in the past two years after back-to-back upset defeats left his promising career and reputation in tatters.

He hired Virgil Hunter, of Andre Ward fame and one of the best defensive-minded coaches in the game, to help him tighten up his flaws and get the most of his strengths.

The switch from Freddie Roach has paid immediate dividends.

Khan dominated former welterweight champion Luis Collazo on the Mayweather-Maidana undercard, proving harder to hit clean, smarter in his attack and less willing to take the type of wild risks that got him in trouble in the past.

“He [Hunter] has made me a better fighter. He’s made me an understanding fighter, to understand what boxing is all about and not make mistakes,” Khan said.

“I’m not going back to my old self again. It’s going to be in the blood where I look to fight, everyone knows that, I can come forward and fight you, I can box you, I have all the abilities, but there’s times and places for those.”

Having a good sense of time and place is key in boxing.

Khan is the type of fighter who never leaves you feeling cheated as a fan.

Whether he knocked out his foe or got knocked out himself, you knew he came into the ring looking to give his all and put on a good show.

And that’s the type of mentality that complicates a trainer’s job.

If you’re Hunter, you don’t want to compromise what makes your fighter exciting and effective, but you also don’t want him walking into the sort of big shots that left him on dream street in the past.

“I’m still going to be the fighter I am. We’re just more smart. Whenever we put an attack together there’s a reason why we’re putting that attack together and there has to be a way out or there has to be a way to stay out of trouble,” Khan said.

“You can still be exciting, you can still be come forward, you can still throw a lot of punches, but be careful at the same time.”

Khan wasn’t careful against Danny Garcia, and it cost him big time—big time being code for a spectacular knockout defeat.

Alexander isn’t a big bomber himself, but all it takes is one perfectly landed shot to end a night. And at this level, pretty much anyone you face has the goods to hurt you.

He’s held a share of the 147-pound crown twice, his latest title reign ending against Shawn Porter last December, and has the technical ability to win a fight employing different styles.

Alexander can box and move, like he did in shutting out Marcos Maidana, or he can attack and engage as he did in his last fight, a similar shutout of Jesus Soto Karass.

His diverse skills and ability to attack with different looks are definite concerns for Khan and his team.

“Devon brings hand speed to the table, he brings movement, likes to be aggressive, likes to be on his bike sometimes, so we’re going to be ready for whatever he brings to the table. He’s going to come to fight. It’s a massive opportunity for him,” Khan said.

Opportunity.

The welterweight division is so packed with talent and big stars that we might want to start calling it the opportunity division.

It’s like The Hunger Games out there, brimming with talent but where one wrong step at the wrong time could spell doom rather than triumph.

Mayweather obviously leads the pack in terms of desirability, but fellow pound-for-pound superstar Manny Pacquiao also shares his neighborhood.

And the rest of the division isn't too far behind.

Champion: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (WBC/WBA)
1. Manny Pacquiao (WBO)	6. Shawn Porter
2. Timothy Bradley	7. Keith Thurman
3. Juan Manuel Marquez	8. Robert Guerrero
4. Kell Brook (IBF)	9. Amir Khan
5. Marcos Maidana	10. Devon Alexander

Like the vaunted SEC in football, there just aren’t very many soft touches, but Khan believes he has the goods to be the best of them all.

“As long as I stick to the way I fight I don’t think anyone can beat me. I have the fastest hands in boxing, and probably one of the best boxing skills in the world,” Khan expressed with confidence.

“So if I just be smart and stick to those skills I don’t think I can have any problem with anyone. When I lose that focus and don’t stick to that game plan that’s when I make mistakes.”

Mistakes are the last thing he can afford this coming Saturday—not with the stakes this high and the culmination of a year-plus effort finally in sight.

Kevin McRae is a featured boxing columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.