Amir Khan Damaging Reputation by Ducking Top Fighters in Favor of Chris Algieri

Amir Khan better start getting his story straight because he’s rapidly developing a perception problem.

The 28-year-old former unified junior welterweight champion is facing down fire from all sides after seeming to make an official announcement on his next opponent last week.

Khan had this to say, per Edward Chaykovsky of BoxingScene.com:

"

The next opponent will be Chris Algieri. We'll be taking that fight at 147 pounds. He's from New York. He's had 21 fights. Only lost one fight. ... You know his last fight, which he lost, which is the only fight he lost was against Manny Pacquiao - which was in Macau. That fight led Pacquiao to go on and fight Floyd Mayweather

"

Khan’s assertion that it was Pacquiao’s win over Algieri that led him to a Mayweather clash is spurious at best and downright laughable at worst, but he doubled down in the face of criticism lobbed his way.

Khan was heavily criticized by rising British rival and IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook for his decision to face Algieri—would it have helped if he had spelled his name correctly?—and not face him in a lucrative all-Brit clash at Wembley Stadium. 

"He's fighting Algieri who didn't win a round against Pacquiao," Brook said, per BoxingScene.com. “It doesn't make sense to me. I'm world champion, I'm calling him out, we want the fight, there's a word title and a bagful of money and it doesn't make sense that he's fighting this guy who's bringing nothing to the table.”

The undercurrent of Brook’s statement is a word often used in boxing to paint individuals who seem less than accepting of dangerous fights: ducking.

Khan has made pursuit of Mayweather and Pacquiao into a full-time job, often to the detriment of his professional career and his ability to do the sorts of things that land those type of fights.

He passed on the opportunity to challenge for the IBF 147-pound title, allowing Shawn Porter to take the strap from Devon Alexander before losing it to Brook.

A year later he easily defeated Alexander in a fight with significantly lower stakes.

And that’s helped feed a perception that he’s avoiding challenging fights in the hopes of being the last man standing for whomever emerges from Mayweather-Pacquiao on May 2.

Algieri is a solid professional, but there’s little doubt that Khan-Algieri does little to beat the drums of fan anticipation and network desirability.

ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael dropped this gem on Khan’s plate on Sunday:

More on Timothy Bradley in just a bit.

Showtime rejecting the fight seems to make sense. It’s definitely a plausible story.

How do you market a fight against a guy who was knocked down seven times in his last bout and lost by comically wide scores?

Especially a fighter who was largely unknown prior to getting a controversial decision against Ruslan Provodnikov. It's not like Algieri is a known commodity who had an off night. That's the only picture most fans have of him.

Not an easy task, and certainly not one that Showtime would find attractive to bear.

Khan swiftly rejected both claims in comments to Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com, accusing Brook and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, of stirring the pot to make him look bad:

“They [Brook and Hearn] are saying that Showtime don't want the fight—which is b------s. We've not said nothing [to any network]. Nothing has been confirmed for Showtime or any other TV network to say no to,” he said.

That’s an odd statement given his declaration that Algieri was the guy just a couple of days prior. Maybe Khan and his team hadn’t discussed the matter with Showtime, which seems unlikely, or maybe the criticism from fans and media made them rethink their position.

Or maybe they got their hands caught in the cookie jar.

We don’t know.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Perhaps sensing that this wasn’t a good look, Khan immediately traced back his statement that an Algieri fight was a go, per Rick Reeno, and dropped Miguel Cotto and Adrien Broner as the real A-list names on his radar.

Cotto, who will return on June 6 in New York City against an opponent to be named, isn’t an option because Khan needs to fight in May in order to prepare for the month-long fast of Ramadan, and Broner seems to want a catchweight short of the 147-pound limit.

Khan claims to Reeno that Broner, a former three-division world champion known for his polarizing style, has insisted that the fight take place at 144 or 145 pounds, a weight the Bolton native says he can’t make anymore.

Round and round we go.

Where she stops?

Nobody knows.

Which leads us to Bradley.

Khan also used a certain slang term for a part of the male anatomy to deny the assertion that he rejected an eliminator bout with Bradley that had been requested by the IBF.

He did it on the same day that he rejected the contention that Showtime wasn’t willing to accept Algieri.

But Rafael’s claim was given a big boost when IBF Championship Chairman Lindsey Tucker, per John MacDonald of BoxingScene.com, issued a simple statement.

“Amir Khan’s people turned down the fight. Bradley accepted,” Tucker said.

Does this mean somebody is lying?

Let’s give the benefit of the doubt and say that it’s entirely possible that Khan’s team made the decision to squash an eliminator bout without keeping the fighter in the loop.

Khan, which he’s done a lot of lately, claims he has no clue what the IBF is even talking about.

“I have no idea [what the IBF is talking about]. And it's something that I've never done. I don't avoid fighters who have proven themselves.” Khan said, per Reeno.

Brook would certainly say otherwise, but regardless of what you make of all this stuff, and there’s a lot of it, none of this is a good look for Khan.

He’s a talented fighter who has unfortunately turned himself into a groupie, a hanger-on who appears desperate to get the attention of his idol(s).

And he’s turning people away.

So much so that he’s begging the fans to hold their judgment and give him a chance:

They want to, Amir. But you’re making it really difficult.

The best way to silence the critics is to prove them wrong in the ring.

But you have to be willing to do that, and right now that’s what seems to be missing.