Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana engaged in an epic brawl that’s likely headed to “Fight of the Year” accolades. The Freddie Roach–trained Khan silenced the critics who questioned his chin and put on an impressive performance where he outboxed the brawling Maidana en route to a unanimous-decision victory. The UK’s top dog was certainly impressive and his trainer began uttering the name of Mayweather to the media afterward.

Roach stated Khan would be ready for Floyd Mayweather Jr. after a fight in the UK, against either winner of January’s Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander clash or possibly a rematch with Maidana. The immediate  reaction to hearing Khan is “ready” for Mayweather is an eye roll. Everyone obviously wants to see a fight with Pacquiao and nothing less. But, with Mayweather’s legal troubles and Pacquiao’s unwillingness to wait, Mayweather may be in need of a fight in 2011. And if there are no other takers, a clash with Khan could be just what Mayweather needs to rake in the dough. And Khan actually becomes a formidable opponent should he win his next fight.

Would Mayweather wipe out Khan? Perhaps. But there could be several storylines emerging to make this fight interesting. Obviously, the fact that Freddie Roach claims Khan could beat Mayweather makes this fight all the more engaging. Especially when you consider Roach trains Manny Pacquiao. Can you imagine the verbal sparring between Mayweather’s camp and Roach (with Khan caught in the middle)? It would be an epic HBO 24/7.

If you recall the wave of Brits that crossed the pond to see Mayweather knockout Ricky Hatton, then you’ll understand how this fight looks from a financial standpoint for both fighters. Khan will see more money than he’s ever seen before while Mayweather will laugh his way to the bank once more. Khan is becoming a huge star overseas and should bring Mayweather the money he wants. Keep in mind: People don’t come to watch Mayweather win. They come to see if he loses. Imagine how many people from England will make the trek to Vegas to see how Amir fares.

But alas, Khan just isn’t ready to fight someone the caliber of Floyd Mayweather Jr. It’s no slight on Khan, but nobody is ready to fight Mayweather, except Manny Pacquiao. At 24-years-old, Khan has a whole slew of 140lbers who want a piece of him. Rather than worrying about moving up in weight to probably lose to Mayweather, Khan should work on becoming boxing’s next big name. It’s isn’t worth tarnishing his rep for one paycheck.

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