Last week, Amir Khan had a chance encounter with Floyd Mayweather in Dubai.
Mayweather was scheduled to have an exhibition fight last Saturday in Dubai, but the event was canceled when the UAE President passed away.
Khan, who frequents Dubai on a regular basis, announced his retirement from the sport a few days ago.
During their meeting, Khan indicates that Mayweather approached the subject of fighting each other.
Khan would quickly reveal that he planned to announce his retirement the following day. The Bolton boxer says Mayweather tried to persuade him to hold off.
“Floyd said to me ‘Look, we should get it on.’ And I said ‘Brother, tomorrow I’m going to announce my retirement.’ And he goes ‘No, I don’t think you should’. Obviously, pro fighters say to you all your life ‘we should fight each other’ and they keep you on the side, on the bench and I’m like forget that man, I want to be in control of myself,” Khan said, according to The Sun.
“When I call it a day, I call it a day. I don’t not call it a day because someone else is taking control like Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao say now we’ll fight you. Waiting around and waiting around for them so I thought nah man, I’ll do what’s best for me.”
During his pro run, Khan tried everything he could to secure a fight with Mayweather.
In 2014, Mayweather posted a public poll on social media, where he asked fans to select his next opponent. Khan was widely voted as the opponent of choice. However, Mayweather would pass him over in favor of Marcos Maidana, who Khan defeated in 2010.
Mayweather would retire the following year, but eventually came back two years later, in 2017, to stop UFC superstar Conor McGregor in ten rounds. Mayweather would once again retire, this time for good, in the aftermath.