Phil Lo Greco wants 'fair deal' to fight Amir Khan at 147lbs
Wednesday 24 January 2018 18:16, UK
Phil Lo Greco wants to be Amir Khan's comeback opponent, but says only a "fair deal" will see him move back down to welterweight.
The Canadian is one of the names linked with Khan's British homecoming fight at Liverpool's Echo Arena on April 21, live on Sky Sports.
Khan is expected to finally meet British rival Kell Brook this year, but with the 'Special One' moving up to super-welterweight, Lo Greco cannot understand why the Bolton fighter is coming back at 147lbs - and needs a better offer to make the weight himself.
"They got in touch with my managers, made me an offer, I asked them what the weight would be and they said 147lbs," he exclusively told Sky Sports.
"OK, I said, but if they want me to fight at 147lbs it is going to cost a little bit more because I didn't think it was reasonable enough.
"I said 'I will do it. I haven't done it for a few years and I can get down to 147lbs and fight him'. That was my counter-offer. Then I started thinking, wait a minute, why are they wanting to fight at 147lbs yet realistically the fans are hoping to make a fight with him and Kell Brook, but Brook is up at 154lbs.
"Does that mean he doesn't actually want to fight him? Is he fooling the public? Doesn't he want to give the fans in the UK what they want to see?
"Eddie Hearn has a great deal with Sky Sports, this is a main event fight and I am being very, very, very reasonable.
"The problem is getting down to 147lbs comes at an expense. I need the right people around, proper nutritionists, proper doctors, it's a whole different science. I am not going to put my body through that misery with a large expense when I know the fight is worth lot more."
Promoter Hearn would only confirm that Khan's first opponent for two years will be announced at a press conference in Liverpool on Tuesday.
Lo Greco agreed to a catchweight for past defeats at the hands of Shawn Porter and Errol Spence Jr, two of the world's best welterweights, but the man behind the 'Culinary Fighter' show, wants to end their war of words in the ring and test Khan's credentials after almost two years out.
"If they want a measuring stick for his comeback, fight me at 154lbs," he said.
"I will be honest, against Spence Jr, Porter and the rest, I have cut corners in training, I know that. That will not happen for this one, it is a big fight, I will have three months to get down to 147lbs but I can't and won't do that without an offer that it is worth - or fight me at 154lbs.
"He fought Canelo who is a beast at 154lbs and we saw what happened but of course, I am not the same threat. Then again, Khan has been sparked at 135lbs, 140lbs, 147lbs
"Let me fight him, give me a fair deal and I will come over to the UK and knock him out too. And then, I will go for dinner with him and have him on my show."
Amir Khan's British homecoming on April 21 and Kell Brook's super-welterweight debuts on March 3, are both live and exclusive on Sky Sports.
