Earlier today, BoxingScene.com was contacted by promoter Gary Shaw, who had a lot to say after reading our story on the “Twitter” battle between junior welterweights Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi.
Khan is claiming that Malignaggi is avoiding a potential fight between the two of them, and Malignaggi is making the same claims about Khan. Shaw weighed in with a few comments of his own. He says Malignaggi is telling the truth, not Khan.
A few weeks ago, Shaw was negotiating with Khan’s former promoter Frank Warren to match the British champion against unbeaten WBC title holder Timothy Bradley. The two promoters were close to a deal, but it quickly went down the toilet when Khan signed a contract with Golden Boy Promotions. Shaw was turned down when he reached out to Golden Boy to make a Khan-Bradley fight.
“This morning I read with interest the story on BoxingScene about Malignaggi and Amir Khan going at it. I must tell you that factually Malignaggi is telling the truth as I tried to make a fight with Amir Khan and Tim Bradley and Golden Boy said ‘absolutely no chance,’ ‘no way’ - and I believe that’s the reason why Amir Khan refuses to fight [Marcos] Maidana – he’s scared,” Shaw said to BoxingScene.
Shaw questions the British champion’s heart. Khan’s mandatory is Marcos Maidana. The WBA ordered the fight but Khan is not likely to defend his title against Maidana in the month of May. Golden Boy would rather build some steam behind a Khan-Maidana meeting. The promotional company is attempting to finalize a fight between Khan and Juan Manuel Marquez. Shaw doesn’t buy it. He believes Amir Khan is afraid of Maidana, and Bradley, and any other fighter who presents a real danger.
“He’s scared of Maidana. He’s scared of Tim Bradley. What champion do you know is willing to give up his title to fight someone else with no title? And I believe Amir Khan is a fraud. And I’ll believe it until he accepts the challenge to fight Tim Bradley. Until that happens I will continue to say he’s a fraud. We’ll even go back to England to fight him so he feels comfortable, warm and fuzzy in his own country,” Shaw said.