Khan and Money

This is something I've been meaning to write about about for a while.

Amir Khan may well be one of Britain's top boxers at the moment. But I am beginning to see a worrying trend recently involving himself and one of the sports most contentious items: Money.

At first it didn't look like the Khan Maidana fight was going to take place because the Khan camp had claimed that Maidana had asked for too much money. Maidana felt the offer Khan made was disgraceful but after some thinking, took it because he was desperate for the fight.

After his victory in that fight, Khan entered negotiations with Lamont Peterson, but that broke down becuase once again the Khan team deemed Peterson to have asked for too much money.

His next fight with McCloskey was almost a non fight as McCloskey was also deemed as asking for too much money. However the McCloskey team said Khan's team had offered a pitiful amount. However they came through this and got the fight made.

Also, his split from Alex Ariza, the man regarded as the best conditioning coach out there, was also due to monetry issues.

I like Khan a lot. I think hes a very talented fighter and has all the ability to go out there and beat anyone put in front of him. But he has started having this worrying trend with money and I wonder if the bigger fighters will be turned off with his stringent use of money and decide to avoid Khan to avoid the hassle.

I disagree...Khan sells the fight and seeing as he was PPv pre-title he obviously has a massive following....

Now why should a fighter who fights for 50,000 suddenly ask for big money when he isn't the champion?????

I agree with Khan........These guys are greedy..Khan sells remember these guys dodn't!!

So Maidana wasn't a PPV name?

He couldn't sell a fight on his own.....

Khan can......

Nobody would buy ppv with Maidana vs an opponent!! would they??

I think his fight vs Ortiz did. And against Cayo as well.

Plus what about the issue with Ariza. No way is he greedy. He deserves to be paid top dollar caus he is the best around

His fight vs ORTIZ did........It was an undercard fight!!!!

and he was the opponent..

Ur wrong there mate. It was the main event at the Staples Center on 27th June 2009

If it was Ortiz was the mexican fighting in front of his fans..Huge mexican communities in Vegas and LA...

Ortiz would have been the market fighter...

It's about economics and what you're worth....No one has heard of Maidana, Mcloskey,Petersen.....and they are/were trying to get rich off Khan's back...

My sympathies are with Khan.

It's a fairly poor example using Maidanas fight against Ortiz, Ortiz was being pushed as the next big thing by Golden Boy and was undoubtably the attraction in that fight

Khan it has to be remembered is always going to be the main selling point in the majority of his fights, even in a proposed fight with Bradley he will be the one pulling the crowds in as the Alexander fight showcased.

From what i've heard Mcloskey was offered three times his previous career high payday which sounds reasonable to me as he is relatively unknown, you can't expect to leach of an opponent who's the one making the money.

Unfair criticism in my view

As a fighter's career progresses, inevitably the money will become more of an incentive. Its like the old Mike Tyson story, after a while it was all dollar bills. The final straw was probably signing up with Don King and ditching Rooney and Atlas. Hopefully, Khan will keep his feet on the ground to some degree. If he becomes side tracked and to interested in the financial gains, he may quickly find he hasn't got the money to put in the bank.

its six of one and half a dozen of the other- khan offer fighters 2-3 time more than there highest paid fight and they expect massive paydays because its ppv main event. in my opinion if you get a world title shot fighters should be happy to fight for less, because the chance to be world champion would create lots of $$$ itself- if you have the talent then you will draw more and more fans over time, meaning more money

Khan is PPV over here and not as big but improving in the states. Not many fighters have that. Bradley vs Khan would be a 50/50 split but not many other realistic opponents deserve that.

prettyboy1304 wrote:Khan is PPV over here and not as big but improving in the states. Not many fighters have that. Bradley vs Khan would be a 50/50 split but not many other realistic opponents deserve that.

I dont think Bradley/Khan should be a 50/50 split. Tim cant fill a phone booth. Khan puts bums on seats = more money.

i think a 50/50 split is about right- khan has the bigger following but bradley has 2 of the titles so its about even

eddyfightfan wrote:i think a 50/50 split is about right- khan has the bigger following but bradley has 2 of the titles so its about even

Its about the benjamins. Holmes/Cooney was a 50/50 split. Its about who brings in the crowd. Dammit, I'll give Khan the 606v2 belt then. I'll also get the sanctioning fees

Bradleys probably a bigger draw in America due to the fact he's an American champion and their running out of them. I think Bradley got 65% of the Alexander fight money. 50/50 would give it a better chance of happening and would be good for Khan because once he beats Bradley he would do even better buisness in America.

prettyboy1304 wrote:Bradleys probably a bigger draw in America due to the fact he's an American champion and their running out of them. I think Bradley got 65% of the Alexander fight money. 50/50 would give it a better chance of happening and would be good for Khan because once he beats Bradley he would do even better buisness in America.

What was the audience in attendance at their fight? Didn't they give away tickets just to fill the place?

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:Bradleys probably a bigger draw in America due to the fact he's an American champion and their running out of them. I think Bradley got 65% of the Alexander fight money. 50/50 would give it a better chance of happening and would be good for Khan because once he beats Bradley he would do even better buisness in America.

What was the audience in attendance at their fight? Didn't they give away tickets just to fill the place?

Yes they did but that is better than empty seats. Think they had just short of 10000 which isn't bad for 2 up and coming world champions who are not yet the elite and haven't been in many memorable fights

prettyboy1304 wrote:

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:Bradleys probably a bigger draw in America due to the fact he's an American champion and their running out of them. I think Bradley got 65% of the Alexander fight money. 50/50 would give it a better chance of happening and would be good for Khan because once he beats Bradley he would do even better buisness in America.

What was the audience in attendance at their fight? Didn't they give away tickets just to fill the place?

Yes they did but that is better than empty seats. Think they had just short of 10000 which isn't bad for 2 up and coming world champions who are not yet the elite and haven't been in many memorable fights

Exactly. They gave tickets away. After the Maidana fight and the way GBP have been pushing Khan, he is by far the bigger draw. Bradley cant even draw flies on turd. Plus the fight was in the home city of one of the fighters.

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:Bradleys probably a bigger draw in America due to the fact he's an American champion and their running out of them. I think Bradley got 65% of the Alexander fight money. 50/50 would give it a better chance of happening and would be good for Khan because once he beats Bradley he would do even better buisness in America.

What was the audience in attendance at their fight? Didn't they give away tickets just to fill the place?

Yes they did but that is better than empty seats. Think they had just short of 10000 which isn't bad for 2 up and coming world champions who are not yet the elite and haven't been in many memorable fights

Exactly. They gave tickets away. After the Maidana fight and the way GBP have been pushing Khan, he is by far the bigger draw. Bradley cant even draw flies on turd. Plus the fight was in the home city of one of the fighters.

No it wasn't it was in Detroit Bradley is from California and Alexander is from St Louis. They did do good box office figures. Khan has the British PPV but Bradley is a bigger draw in the States he is an American champion and their is only 5 of them which is the lowest number for a long time making their world champs a bigger draw.

Have to agree with both of you on this

Bradley/Khan should be 50/50 all the way, Bradley holds the belts and has a better claim to being the top dog but Khan even in America is the more marketable fighter, as his fights over there have shown already.

I think money is going to stop this fight from happening can't see Khan and GBP giving Bradley 50% think they might want the British PPV cash and half or a third of the American money. A lot depends on the McCloskey fight. It's not worth £15 the undercard is very poor and the world title fight is a mismatch. If uptake on this isn't great it could put him in a less powerful position than he is in at the moment.

it will be a shambles if the khan/bradley fight doesnt happen this year- personally im hopeful, khan can't seriously expect people to pay for another lower level fight after mccloskey and bradley seems to not be scared to fight anybody

Personally I think Khan is surrounded by the wrong types of people. What with all the stories surrounding the Alex Ariza situation (which seems to have gone mysteriously quiet), and the various tales of Khan's opponents repeatedly asking for too much money, I think there is some truth in the matter of it. I don't think Khan's father should be as involved as he is, because father or not, he just doesn't seem clued up on the way boxing works.

In fact, as much as he has his critics, I think Haye made a very good suggestion when he and Booth requested for their negotiations with Wlad to be made public and transparent. If all fights had their negotiations made public then we the public would soon learn who the heel-draggers are.

I worry about Khan his father knows nothing about boxing. Alex Ariza is supposed to be the best strength conditioning coach on the planet. He still works with Pac and few of Freddie Roach's other fighters. Don't know what happened their but it seems strange you would get rid of a man with that pedigree in his field.
GBP are only interested in how much money they can make out of Khan. De La Hoya comes accross well but is all about the money now and is basically a face for the company Schaefer is the buisnessman.
Khan seems more interested in the cash than the pride of being a champ and aiming to be P4P#1. I know he wants to earn money but that will come.
I wouldn't be suprised if his next fight was against Zab Judah he is a champ again and it would enhance Khans name and marketability in the states and would almost be a certainty to win.

prettyboy1304 wrote:I worry about Khan his father knows nothing about boxing. Alex Ariza is supposed to be the best strength conditioning coach on the planet. He still works with Pac and few of Freddie Roach's other fighters. Don't know what happened their but it seems strange you would get rid of a man with that pedigree in his field.
GBP are only interested in how much money they can make out of Khan. De La Hoya comes accross well but is all about the money now and is basically a face for the company Schaefer is the buisnessman.
Khan seems more interested in the cash than the pride of being a champ and aiming to be P4P#1. I know he wants to earn money but that will come. I wouldn't be suprised if his next fight was against Zab Judah he is a champ again and it would enhance Khans name and marketability in the states and would almost be a certainty to win.

If I were taking blows to the head and risking my life every time I step into the ring, I'd want top dollar for that.

The bottom line is that we dont know the reasons why they split and how much Ariza asked for.

Thats my point though yes he wants well payed and he is earning good money. The more big fights come his way the more he will earn but I'm a bit concerned that he might price himself out of fights.
Their are 3 or 4 fighters who have said the fee they were being offered was a joke. He already priced himself out of fighting Peterson or Ortiz and instead had to go with McCloskey who knocked back the fight first because of the money.
It will be interesting to see the figures his next fight does at the box office. It's a mis-match and a poor undercard for £15 don't see it doing to well which could harm bargaining power when it comes down to the negotiations for whoever he fights after McCloskey.

prettyboy1304 wrote:Thats my point though yes he wants well payed and he is earning good money. The more big fights come his way the more he will earn but I'm a bit concerned that he might price himself out of fights.
Their are 3 or 4 fighters who have said the fee they were being offered was a joke. He already priced himself out of fighting Peterson or Ortiz and instead had to go with McCloskey who knocked back the fight first because of the money.
It will be interesting to see the figures his next fight does at the box office. It's a mis-match and a poor undercard for £15 don't see it doing to well which could harm bargaining power when it comes down to the negotiations for whoever he fights after McCloskey.

Those fighters probably see what Khan is earning and their managers get greedy. Giving someone 3x their highest pay is not something to be sniffed at.

Khan = $$$. Many will want to fight him just for that.

But I wont be buying his latest fight.

I won't either very poor

Although I did say the same about Haye vs Harrison and bought it half an hour before it started.

prettyboy1304 wrote:Although I did say the same about Haye vs Harrison and bought it half an hour before it started.

Same here. I actually was sold on Harrison's hype and believed he stood a chance is he let his punches go. But I'll watch Khan's fight online instead. I am not wasting my 15 quid on that coupled with no-names undercard.

We say that but are you going to pay for Cleverly vs Braehmer and DeGale vs Groves?

prettyboy1304 wrote:We say that but are you going to pay for Cleverly vs Braehmer and DeGale vs Groves?

I probably will. DeGale/Groves matchup is very good. Clev is also pretty good.

So will I was hoping for another magnificent 7 type show. Don't think it will though not heard anything about Brook, Gavin or Chisora.

prettyboy1304 wrote:So will I was hoping for another magnificent 7 type show. Don't think it will though not heard anything about Brook, Gavin or Chisora.

Hasn't Brook got contract issues?

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:So will I was hoping for another magnificent 7 type show. Don't think it will though not heard anything about Brook, Gavin or Chisora.

Hasn't Brook got contract issues?

Not sure mate think he might have. Shame if he does he has been held up at this level for a while and doesn't fight regularly enough for me as it is.