16 lBOXING NEWSlJANUARY 11, 2018 http://www.boxingnewsonline.net
poll that determined Amir – rather than
Maidana – would face the American, only for
Floyd to go against public sentiment and face
the Argentine.
“Look, Floyd’s a great fighter but I would
never use anything against him in that way,”
Khan added. “It just never happened. It is what it is. When
I won the poll [and he didn’t get the fight] it upset me but it’s
just one of those things, isn’t it?
“With Floyd you just don’t know. He might come back for
one more. If he does and it happens that would be awesome,
but if he doesn’t it will just be one of those things that never
happened.”
Mayweather, of course, landed on that mythical 50-0 target
before walking away. Khan has had 35 fights. He has been
boxing for almost two decades yet remains confident that
despite some damaging knockouts he will leave boxing on his
own terms, without the tell tale signs of a damaging career.
“The way I look at it is, yes, I have taken big shots in a fight.
But when I have been knocked out it’s only been by single
shots. Taking numerous shots, standing there and
showing too much heart probably takes more out of
you. If you put all those knockout shots together that
I’ve had, and the few times I’ve been knocked out,
I probably took more punishment in
the Maidana fight... So I think you’d
rather be knocked out by one big shot
than take numerous shots and I think,
at the moment, with what’s happened
and how my career’s gone, I think it’s
perfect. I don’t think I’ve taken much
punishment. When you take too
many shots and you’re standing there
showing too much heart, that’s what’s
going to maybe give you problems in
the future. But with me, I think I will
be fine because I’m not taking that big➤ home, show them what I’m really like and
how good I am, help build my fanbase up
again and get people believing I will become
a world champion again.”
He has not boxed in England since his 2013
win over Julio Diaz, one of only two UK fights
since 2010 (the other was a 2011 win over Paul McCloskey).
But Khan’s stature as a wonderkid with the world at his
feet saw his brand grow quickly and internationally. And the
pressure remained. For a while, he and Mayweather were
the only boxers who held multi-fight deals with TV giants
Showtime. The expectation followed Khan across the Atlantic.
Just because he fought Peterson and Garcia ‘over there’, it
doesn’t mean he had nothing to lose and the pressure was off.
“Not really, because those are fights I should have won,”
Khan recalled. “They had me as the favourite, so no, I still had
a lot of pressure on those fights. Against Canelo I didn’t have
the same pressure because people said, ‘Credit to Amir for
going up a weight and we respect him for that.’ So there was
probably a little less pressure.”
Khan rates Marcos Maidana, Canelo and Garcia
as the three best opponents he has faced, and while
the Canelo attempt might have proved ill-conceived,
lessons were learned.
Although he healed after that
sobering May 2016 defeat he opted to
finally have his hands treated.
One operation turned into three
and before you know it, he was in the
jungle.
He might have resigned himself
to not fighting in 2017, but he also
admits he has also given up hope of
landing the Mayweather match he
coveted for so long. That ship has
sailed.
He won the ‘official’ MayweatherIN THE FUTURE I WILL
BE FINE BECAUSE
I HAVEN’T TAKEN
BIG PUNISHMENT,
JUST ONE BIG SHOT
A FEW TIMES”
HUMDINGER:
Khan clatters his right off
Maidana’s draw during epic scrap
Photo: ACTION IMAGES/LEE SMITH