In the 2004 Olympics as a 17-Year-old fighter, one with fast hands, with a good jab to go along with his quick feet, won the Silver Medal in Athens and eyes were on him when he made his professional debut. He went on to be the youngest British World Champion at 22 years old, became a 2-division champion and has a record of 31 -4 with 19 KOs.
Sadly, Khan has been inactive since his vicious KO loss to Canelo Alvarez while moving up in weight in May of 2016, and doesn’t have any planned fights for the rest of 2017.
At 29 Years old, Amir Khan should be entering the prime of his career, his boxing skills and rare hand speed has made his fights some of the most entertaining to watch. Khan was in the stable with Hall of Fame Trainer Freddie Roach for most of his success in his career with wins over Maidana, Judah, and Malignaggi. His loss to Danny Garcia came from a shot to the neck, and his Loss to Lamont Peterson was highly debatable.
After Leaving Roach for a more focused defensive trainer in Virgil Hunter, Khan was impressive in his win over Devon Alexander. Khan has suffered from the “glass chin” tag, but his willingness to compete in the pocket, while not using his jab has been both his gift and his curse.
The Welterweight division is the most competitive in boxing with Keith Thurman, Errol Spence, Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, Kell Brook, and more giving fans the trill of debating who the best is. Undisputed lightweight champion and pound for pound top 3 in the world, Terrence Crawford moving up to the welterweight division will make it that much more competitive. Those are just the big names; fighters such as Jeff Horn, Lamont Peterson, Jessie Vargas, and Lucas Matthysse are heavy hitters in the division as well.
Love him or hate him, Amir Khan’s name should be on that list, his willingness to compete would give us fans great action with him versus any of those names. It may be his out of the ring public problems, his KO loss, or even feeling he doesn’t have it anymore. Khan announced last week he is getting back to focusing on boxing. For the sake of the fans, I hope he means it.
Has Amir Khan still got what it takes? Let us know your thoughts!
