Amir Khan pokes fun at reluctant rivals in upcoming mobile video game
Amir Khan faces the biggest fight of his career on May 7 when he meets Canelo Alvarez for the WBC middleweight belt in a bout on HBO Pay-Per-View at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Khan, though, apparently hasn’t forgotten those he believe did him wrong in the past.
The British boxer is about to release a mobile game titled “Khanage,” which allows the user to take control of Khan and compete against other fighters in an arcade-style boxing game.
Inspired by Khan’s real-life quest to become the best boxer in the world, the game does its best to take a shot at a pair of fighters who Khan believes ducked him.
Although Khan is the only professional boxer in the game, the game depicts a pair of characters who share some not-so-flattering similarities with their real-life counterparts.
In its first video trailer, Khan steps into the ring with “Barry Mackyowl,” who bears a striking resemblance to Manny Pacquiao. Khan failed to secure a fight with Pacquiao this year and uses the app to take a dig at the recently retired Filipino star.
When Khan steps into the ring with Mackyowl, the faux Filipino cowers. In a nod to Pacquiao’s shoulder surgery after the Floyd Mayweather fight from 2015 that was criticized for the lack of action, Mackyowl places a cast on his arm and runs away.
But perhaps the cruelest joke is reserved for Mayweather. Khan famously tried his best to land a fight with “Money” before he retired. However, the Brit wound up empty-handed as he watched a pair of arguably less deserving fighters in Marcus Maidana (twice) and Andre Berto score a huge payday.
In the second promotional video that starts with on-screen text stating “To protect their position at the top the best fighters avoided him,” Mayweather is depicted as “Dollar Bills Jr.”
As Khan approaches his opponent in the ring, Dollar Bills is seen reading a book titled “My First ABC Book,” an obvious shot at the rumors of Mayweather being illiterate.
The page is turned to a picture of a cat with the letter ‘C’ in bold letters, but Dollar Bills simply hangs his head in shame, unable to read. Once he turns to see Khan, Dollar Bills shrieks in fear and dashes out of the ring, leaving a trail of money behind.
The final video finds Khan finally able to land an opponent. And it happens to be a red headed Mexican by the name of “Dan Ello.” With the words “But one man would #TakeTheFight,” leading the trailer, the character, who bears a striking resemblance to Alvarez heads to the ring with both “Barry Mackyowl” and “Dollar Bills Jr.” hiding behind him. Khan and “Dan Ello” throw a punch at one another before the video cuts away.
“Going into the biggest fight of my life I wanted to give fans another way to connect with me and my story. I think everyone knows my desire to prove I belong at the top of boxing in the biggest fights, and ‘Khanage’ is a fun way of expressing that,” Khan said in a statement.
Khanage will be available on May 2 on iOS and Android.
