Britain’s Amir Khan has declared that his observance of the Muslim festival of Ramadan would not prevent him from fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr in September.
After preserving his unbeaten record with a points victory over Manny Pacquiao in their long-awaited mega-fight last weekend, Mayweather said that his final bout will take place in Las Vegas in September.
Ramadan, during which Muslims are obliged to fast, is due to end on July 17 this year and Khan believes that would give him enough time to fully prepare for an encounter with the American pound-for-pound master.
Photo: Reuters
“I’m not ruling out fighting in September because it’s possible that it could happen,” Khan told journalists during a conference call to promote his May 29 fight against Chris Algieri in New York. “Mayweather only fights in mid-September and Ramadan will be a little earlier this year, which helps. It gives me enough time to get the training done. So it can happen in September.”
Both Khan and Algieri are former light-welterweight world champions and the 28-year-old Briton, who has a 33-3 record, says it would be wrong to look beyond the former kickboxer (20-1).
“I need to win this fight if I’m to get near any of the big names in boxing,” Khan said. “It’s time to fight Chris Algieri. I’m not going to be fighting Mayweather until I win this fight. Winning this fight is everything to me. I’m not looking past Chris because I’ve made that mistake in the past. There are bigger fights out there for me, but this is my focus.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but