LAS VEGAS – Amir Khan and Danny Garcia were light on the scale Friday at a weigh-in that included all of the usual poses and promises, yet little of the buzz that puts some drama into the pre-fight ritual.
A crowd of a few hundred watched Khan and Garcia weigh in at 139 pounds, one under the limit for their junior-welterweight bout Saturday at Mandalay Bay. From Garcia’s potential emergence to Khan’s bid to re-assert his claim on stardom after a controversial loss, the ingredients for an interesting fight are there. But there are questions about whether many paying customers will be.
Ticket sales have been slow, according to sources at the box office. Barring a good walk-up during the hours before opening bell, a small crowd would raise familiar questions about Khan’s marketability in the United States. He’s a British fighter of Pakistani descent. Some of his fans were there Friday, dressed in T-shirts that said Khan’s Army. But it was a small army.
In part, there’s been a dilution of interest in his bout with Garcia in the UK because of the heavyweight brawl Saturday between Dereck Chisora and David Haye in London. Much of the UK media stayed home for Chisora-Haye instead of traveling to Las Vegas for Khan’s first fight since his controversial loss to Lamont Peterson in Washington D.C.
Then, there’s Garcia (23-0, 14 KOs), a Philadelphia fighter who is still relatively unknown, even in his own country. His dad and trainer, Angel, has been trash-talking non-stop in an evident attempt to gain some notoriety for his 24-year-old son. But if early ticket sales are an indication, the public hasn’t been paying attention. What’s more, the bookies aren’t impressed with Angel Garcia’s braggadocio. Khan (26-2, 18 KOs) was about a 5-to-1 favorite on Friday. That means he is expected to win the HBO-televised bout easily.
“I will knock Danny Garcia out,’’ Khan said. “ I will take the world titles home. I know Danny didn’t train as hard as me. I promise I will knock him out. That is the only way.’’
Khan said it with the conviction of fighter who knows he must be sensational in his bid to eliminate questions that have lingered since his mixed performance against Peterson, who was forced out of rematch by a positive test for a synthetic testosterone.
Khan also had a message for Garcia’s dad, who has said he has never seen a good fighter of Pakistani descent.
“I cannot wait until after the fight when we stand here and I have knocked your son out,’’ Khan said. “He is going to see what a Pakistani-British fighter can do. I cannot wait to get in there.’’
Angel Garcia couldn’t wait to deliver a rhetorical counter.
“This fight is going to show the world who is the boss,’’ Angel said. “Danny is the boss. Khan has never faced a Latino like Danny. This is Latino blood. A nation. We are going to show the world who is the boss.”
Well, a fraction of the world anyway.
