British superstar Amir Khan has paid tribute to the late Roger Mayweather and revealed a previously brief partnership between the pair.
Back in late 2009, Khan was plotting a successful assault on the American market after defeating Marco Antonio Barrera and also picking up the WBA super-lightweight title that same year.
The 33-year-old needed a new trainer for his stateside run and looked around several before eventually making a final choice.
One of those was Floyd Mayweather’s trainer and uncle Roger, a former multi-time world title holder in his own right.
Amir Khan
Roger had guided Floyd to victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in 2007. And after a brief spell away from the sport, Floyd’s one-sided triumph over Juan Manuel Marquez in 2009.
Khan was impressed by the work of ‘The Black Mamba’ – going so far as to seek out Mayweather to oversee his US dream potentially.
Explaining how it went down, Khan said he ended up heading to Los Angeles instead of moving to Las Vegas after saluting Roger’s work.
“I was very sorry to hear about Roger Mayweather passing away,” Khan exclusively told World Boxing News. “Obviously, I did a training session with him. Nobody really knows about it.
“I’ve got some old pictures somewhere taken with Roger when we trained together.
Floyd Mayweather
“Floyd Mayweather was there too. He usually sleeps until mid-morning but came down to show respect.
“This must have been about ten years ago. I thought of training with him, but then I went with Freddie Roach.
“But Roger was a great guy. He was a great man that the whole of boxing has lost. He was a great coach, which he proved with what he did with Floyd Mayweather.
“So yeah, he will be missed,” added the Bolton man.
Roger was laid to rest late last month. His funeral and memorial service were streamed live on YouTube by Mayweather Promotions.
With a career dating back to 1981, Mayweather was undoubtedly in the legend category of sports figures. Not least for his work with nephew Floyd, alongside his achievements.
Guiding Floyd to a remarkable undefeated record until his health deteriorated later in life, Roger earned the respect of everyone in boxing.
He will be sorely missed after losing a battle with diabetes complications on March 17.
For Khan, his career remains on hold as the coronavirus crisis continues to stall everyone’s life. A spring return was recently canceled due to the ongoing pandemic.
