By Edward Chaykovsky

British star Amir Khan (31-3, 19KOs) says his team was very close to securing a September fight with then WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26KOs).

According to Khan, Mayweather and his team backed away from their discussions at the last minute. Instead, Mayweather finalized a deal with Khan's friend and stablemate, former champion Andre Berto.

Mayweather won an easy twelve round unanimous decision over Berto and then announced his retirement from the sport.

Khan had chased the fight for over two years and was under the impression that he was going to get the fight, but was overlooked. He was overlooked twice last year in favor of Marcos Maidana.

“He was scared of me, wasn’t he? We were this close to finalizing the fight. But his team backed out at the last moment. They knew that I would beat him. It was so disappointing. I could have knocked him out. It was such a shame that I didn’t get the opportunity,” Khan told Rediff of India.

Khan is now setting his sights on an early 2016 showdown with his friend and former sparring partner Manny Pacquiao.