What if Amir Khan’s huge 8.8m dollar payday he was guaranteed for fighting Neeraj Goyat was actually fake?

I think it is. I’ve heard that Goyat is a big name in India and yes he has held the WBC Asia title, but looking for footage of his fights it seems like the kinds of crowds that might make a 5-6 figure fight if that. Twitter and Facebook are used in India and he only has 1.3k twitter followers and 30k likes on facebook. I don’t think he’s that popular in India.

So who would pay an Amir Khan who just looked so anemic against Terrence Crawford 8.8 million dollars? Oh, Arab businessmen, because they are rich from oil and spend crazy right? Nah, I don’t think so. Yes Arabs sometime spend highly on things that will improve their global prestige and attracting business, but paying Khan for this is just silly. It’s not like a chance at making boxing very slightly more popular in Saudi Arabia (cuz that’s the best you’ll get with a 1 sided Khan-Goyat fight) is anything like, I don’t know, making a super tall building, hosting the olympics, or opening a new spa. There’s almost nothing to gain for them.

Let me also remind you that Khan got about 3.5 million guaranteed for the Canelo fight and about 1 million vs Malignaggi. 8.8 million is huge. You could probably pay Canelo that to do an exhibition in Saudi Arabia with a journeyman. So my theory is that Khan’s crew leaked that figure in the same way youtubers buy bots for views, to make fake clout to improve his chances at getting the Pacquiao fight.

It’s smart too because people believe that Arab businessmen are capable of that sort of thing. Since it was an exhibition no one has to release any official figures. You just need someone in Arabia to host the fight and pretend it’s a big deal. If I’m right this makes the Billy Dip switch pretty hilarious.

Anyway what do you guys think? Do you think his payday was real? Or maybe some rich weirdo in Saudi Arabia just really digs the India-Pakistani rivalry?