➤“I had time on my hands and while I was in there I thought
I could do some training. I thought it might be a good idea
for me to show people who the real me is and it definitely
happened. People have been saying nice things [subsequently]
and I think it worked.”
Now Khan’s focus is switching back to the prize ring where,
at 31, time is running out.
For the 2004 Olympian who burst onto the scene as a
dynamic and exciting 17-year-old is now nearer the end of his
career than the beginning and he is well aware of that, though
he falls short of putting a timescale on how much longer he will
fight for.
“It’s hard to say, really,” he considered. “It’s very hard to say.
Another two or three years... I feel good but it just depends on
what’s out there for me. The day I do feel old, I’ll then call it a
day. At the moment I still feel I’ve got a lot left in me. The speed
is definitely still there. It’s something that will probably be with
me all the time. I thought as I got older it would disappear but
it’s still there. I think it’s just genetics. I still feel good. I still feel
my fitness is amazing. I’m one of those fighters who likes to
grind and work hard.”
Khan also believes he has something
to prove. That stunning defeat to Canelo
has been followed by the longest period of
inactivity of his 12-year career.
But Amir retains goals; it’s not just about
silencing dissenting voices.
“There’s always going to be doubters in the
game,” he continued. “But look, what I’ve
already achieved in boxing is good.
I know I’ve got a lot left in me and
I can still achieve a lot more but
these doubters just motivate
me. They don’t upset me. They
motivate me more than anything
else. I just never let it get to me.
“I would like to fight a
minimum two times, maybe
three times [in 2018]. I want to
win a third world title. I want to
win one more world title before
I call it a day.”
The next step is a fight in March,
with either a UK date or Adrien
Broner in New York in the offing, with
another in September if all goes well.
The long-term goal is lucrative, world title
engagements against the likes of Keith Thurman,
Errol Spence (IBF champion) and possibly rematches
with Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia. Then, of course, there
is the UK blockbuster with Sheffield’s Kell Brook. While Khan’s
shock link-up with Eddie Hearn makes that a possibility, it is not
at the forefront of the agenda.
Top of his shopping list is WBA and WBC champion Thurman,
a surprising choice.
“Honestly,” Khan stressed. “For some reason I think he would
be a good fight for me. A lot of people say he’s a very scary
fighter but I just think that it’s perfect for me.”
Of course, there is unfinished business with Garcia,
who stopped Khan in four rounds in 2012, and
Peterson, who edged him over 12 competitive rounds
the year before.
Then there is Australian Jeff
Horn, conqueror of Filipino
legend Manny Pacquiao. Khan,
after exiting the jungle, watched
from ringside as Horn defended
his WBO belt against Gary
Corcoran.
Then, of course, there is
Brook. Would it always bother
him if the fight a generation
of UK boxing fans has wanted
never happens?“It would,” he admits. “It would. Because I honestly know
I can beat him and that’s why it would niggle me. It’s just that
at the moment we’ve both come off losses and I’m coming off a
hand operation...”
Khan’s hand required three surgeries and he is now certain
an injury, which dates back to the second fight of his pro career
against Baz Carey in 2005, is better than it has been since that
contest.
“I wasn’t going to rush into coming back, I had to make sure
my hand was okay and physically that I was alright after a big
shot like that [against Alvarez]. I’ve needed that long break to
make sure I’m okay but now I know the hand is okay I’m going
into the ring feeling fresh and feeling that I want to be in the
ring. I want to be back in the ring. I want to be fighting again.”
Of course, things could have worked out better. Before
taking the Alvarez challenge on, he had targeted bouts against
Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. He waited. He was
close to getting one fight, then the other. He waited some
more. He rearranged bouts to fit their schedules. They stalled
and he still waited. Neither fight materialised.
Khan still harbours desires for the
Mayweather contest. Failing that, he wants
his former Wild Card Gym stablemate
Pacquiao.
“It’s been very frustrating because I’ve
always dreamt of being in a big fight with
either of them and they have been the same
weight as me so I would not have had to
go up to fight them – but unfortunately it
didn’t happen,” he said. “It’s frustrated
me big time but that’s part of life and
you’ve just got to move on and see
what options you have out there.
Look, we do have Kell Brook out
there. That could be a fight in the
future. He’s gone up a weight to
154 but it can still happen. I’ve
only just turned 31 and I’ve still
got some good fights left in me.”
However, like Brook – who felt
the Golovkin contest was an error- Khan believes the Canelo bout
was, with hindsight, a mistake.
“Yeah, I do,” he sighed. “Honestly,
it’s a fight I should never have gone
into because he was physically too big.
I had my chances, I thought I could outbox
him and be smart and not get hit but obviously
he got me with a big shot. Before that, everything was
going well but it’s boxing and you are going to get hit and you
are going to get hit with big shots and he caught me with a
tremendous overhand right that would have knocked most
people out. But as an experience if I’d never taken that fight
I would always have thought, ‘What would have happened?’
Now I’ve done it I can say I tried it, it didn’t work for me and
that’s not going to happen again – where I move up in weight
and make the same mistake.”
Khan is staying with trainer Virgil Hunter and will
head to San Francisco to prepare for his March date.
He feels the USA is the best place to base himself,
and possibly where the big fights will still happen.
“I think being in the US
has definitely helped me, it’s
helped get me away from the
distractions, made me focus on
what I want to do,” he explained.
“I just focus on boxing when I’m
there.”
In the UK, is the pressure
greater and are expectations
higher?
“There’s always pressure in
the UK when I fight here but
it’s going to be nice to come ➤
HONESTLY, I THINK
THURMAN WOULD
BE A GOOD FIGHT
FOR ME. PEOPLE SAY
HE’S SCARY BUT HE’S
PERFECT FOR ME”
http://www.boxingnewsonline.net JANUARY 11, 2018 lBOXING NEWSl 15
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN:
Khan clutches the 2004 Olympic
silver medal that made him a star
Photo: ACTION IMAGES/RICHARD HEATHCOTE