Can Amir Khan regain his position among the best fighters in the world?

Can Amir Khan regain his position among the best fighters in the world?

Amir Khan; unrivaled hand speed, a record that most boxers would envy and a reputation to thrill and excite. It has been easy to follow the career of one of the most talented boxers produced on these shores. Khan thrilled the country at the 2004 Olympics and was tipped to become a future world champion. As expected, Amir Khan became a world champion by defeating Andreas Kotelnik at the tender age of 22. His stock rose following victories against the likes of Paul Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana and Zab Judah.

The bout with Judah was followed by two shattering defeats. It was Lamont Peterson firstly that defeated him in December 2011 in a very tight split decision. Secondly and perhaps more memorably, a spectacular KO defeat to Danny Garcia ensued. Although he has since fought and beaten Carlos Molina and Julio Diaz, Khan knows he needs to establish himself amongst the elite again. For a fighter that has gone on record to state that he plans to retire at the age of 29, the window for the mega fights is closing fast for Amir Khan.

In the midst of this I think it is important to address the much publicised situation with his trainers. In what I believe was a critical time in his career, Amir Khan switched trainers from Freddie Roach to Virgil Hunter. This change could be perceived as Khan finding his feet in the ring again and maybe trying a new style of boxing, focusing on finding a balance between offense and defense. Hunter is known to train one of the greats of current times, Andre Ward, and also two time welterweight champion Andre Berto.

Amir Khan now faces the veteran Luis Collazo in a fight where Khan has made the move up a division to welterweight. Collazo, 33, has faced many big names like Ricky Hatton, Andre Berto and Shane Mosley although he has lost to all the fighters named. Although now, he comes off a knockout win against the declining Victor Ortiz and has a good record coming into this fight, winning four of his last five fights of which two he won by the way of knock out.

Now what can we expect in this fight? We know any of Amir Khan’s fights are must-see action fights, so regardless of the outcome the fight itself is worth watching. The promise of knock downs, speed and pure action are enough to gain the fight fans attention for this fight.

The main point going into this fight is Khan’s inactivity over the past year. His last fight was against Mexican Julio Diaz on April 27 2013. When he enters the four posts on May 3 he will have been out of action for over a year and the question of ring rust comes into play. In this time, Luis Collazo has fought three times, winning all three fights. Will Khan be mentally focused and physically prepared to conquer the veteran Collazo or will the lengthy time out affect him? Khan told the Independent that he is ready for this career defining fight.

“The last 12 months haven’t been as if I have been sat at home. I have been in camp; working hard and taking that time off sometimes makes you metaphysically and mentally a better fighter. We’ll see how much better fighter I am on the night.

“I’m going to be focusing on this fight, and I’m not going to let anything get in between that.”

The main reason for Khan’s uncharacteristically long absence comes to the fact that he pulled out of the Devon Alexander bout, which would have been scheduled for December 2013. This was due to Amir and his team being advised that he going to be Floyd Mayweather’s next opponent. Eventually Mayweather rejected Khan and ironically Marcos Maidana, the man that Khan narrowly beat in 2011, will now face him.

Now Khan needs to forget about what was to be and knows he needs to look to the future. Khan finds himself on the undercard, for the first time, in what may be seen as an audition to gain the Mayweather fight for the future or just the next step in his career in the welterweight division. Mayweather insists that Khan needs to prove his entitlement to a fight with “The Best Ever” (as he calls himself) and needs to do that in convincing fashion.

All we know is this is a huge fight for the career of Amir Khan. The “boy” from Bolton, who brings naturally quick hands, heart and excitement within the square circle knows he needs to win this to relight his career and further take his ambition of becoming a world champion to the next level. The incentive that if Khan wins this fight convincingly may influence Floyd Mayweather to give Khan the fight that he was told he would get.

Most importantly Khan is at crossroads in his career. At the age of 27, his corner know deep down, and judging by the overall performances in Khans’ last two bouts, that there is work to be done. If Khan can pull out the performances he produced pre Lamont Peterson, and implement his newly taught defensive skills coached by Virgil Hunter then the route for him to achieve his targets could be accomplished. If he is to carry on with a confused style, trying to figure out when to defend and attack, then it could a long hard fight for him against a formidable experienced opponent.

Will King Khan regain his throne or will his Kingdom crumble? Tune in May 3 and see what can be a career defining fight for him.

-Oun Abbas Hussain / @ouney86
-Contributor to www.BehindTheGloves.com