British boxer Amir Khan may still be ranting about his being glossed over by unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr for the May 3 bout, but the pound-for-pound king has analysts backing up his controversial decision to favour Argentinean boxer Marcos Maidana instead.

Boxing analyst Larry Merchant pointed to Maidana's performance against Mayweather protégé Adrien Broner in 2013 as one of the reasons why the Argentinean pugilist is the better choice.

Merchant said, quoted by Boxing Scene, "I think it was the smart thing to do, and the right thing to do, in that Khan has been so idle and that there was a lot of cynicism about the fight."

He described the Maidana-Mayweather bout as a more buzz-worthy fight for the American audience especially since it would be preceded a few weeks by the highly anticipated rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley on April 12.

A similar view was given by former champion Oscar de la Hoya.

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HBO ringside scorer Harold Lederman also agreed with Merchant's opinion. He told Boxing Scene, "Maidana's the tougher guy. You can't take it away from him. Sensational performance against Adrien Broner. He took it right to Broner, who you known we all considered one of the best up-and-coming fighters in the world."

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Lederman added that on the other hand, "Khan's just been losing."

For his part, Mayweather said that while Khan won the online poll over Maidana, in the end, the final decision is his to make. He also belied Khan's claim that a contract for their bout has been made,

But while Money May is now 100 per cent sure who will he slug it out, the venue is still a question mark amid speculations it might be at the Barclays Center. New York Post said the highly anticipated match would likely be at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather's favourite venue since 2007 when he fought and defeated de la Hoya.

BoxRec, which tracks boxers' fight record and future matches, already listed the MGM Grand as the venue for the Mayweather-Maidana match.

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