Khan’s far from finished but a long road awaits him

LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 14: Eddie Cordova (L) is counted out against Daquan Arnett during their fight at Mandalay Bay Events Center on July 14, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Khan suffered his second successive defeat and one, which was far more devastating than the one at the hands of Lamont Peterson in December, 2011.

It was only a year ago that Amir Khan was at the very summit of his profession, destined for bigger things after winning the IBF light-welterweight title with a clinical and efficient win over experienced Zab Judah. In 2012, Khan’s career has hit its lowest point but he needs to have a ruthless reality check if he wants to regain his fallen reputation in the boxing world.

The fourth round stoppage of Khan by WBC champion, Danny Garcia defined what the Bolton boxer’s strength and weaknesses are. The first two rounds were the best of Khan: quick, efficient combination of punches and moving out of harm’s way, leaving Garcia thinking that the night’s work would be just as difficult as the pundits had predicted.

Round three was the nightmare of Khan and his supporters’ coming true. Garcia’s punch may have been blind but it did exactly what he said would do – stop Khan. No doubt Khan showed his courage and bravery to try and get back up but it was immediately clear, the damage had been done. His trainer, Freddie Roach was convinced by his fighter that he was OK to let him out for the fourth. Despite landing an uppercut on Garcia, it was a glimmering hope that quickly faded with the second knockdown. Khan’s dreams were in complete shreds.

No sooner had Khan been taken to a nearby hospital for checks, that the criticism, post-mortem began. Sky Sports’ Glenn McCrory and Barry McGuigan suggested that it was the end of the road whilst Johnny Nelson believed Khan could return, if he learned from what went wrong. IBF super-middleweight champion Carl Froch, whose relationship with Khan hasn’t been the best over the years but was on better terms in recent times, believed he would retire if he was in Khan’s shoes.

Retire? At 25? Khan quickly brushed those comments aside, hitting back at Froch’s comments by putting forward his own and his division’s (light-weltweight) notoriety in the boxing world.

But harsh lessons need to be learnt here. It seems the legacy of Khan’s thrilling victory over Argentinian Marcos Maidana in 2010 have clouded his thinking when it comes to fight night. Fights against Petersen and now Garcia have shown Khan’s reluctance to follow the game plan he so publicly espouses before fight night, once a tear up is thrown in front of him. In ‘Behind The Ropes’ prior to the Garcia fight, Khan was worryingly shown engaged in brutal battles with his sparring partners.

He has shown though that he can be disciplined in executing a plan, in beating Judah, he showed his strengths. Using his speed to baffle Judah and importantly, sensing his opportunity to end the fight by stopping Judah in round five.

In the sparring mentioned above, there was no Roach, who was occupied elsewhere with the fighters in his stable. In the past six months, Khan has been on a roller-coaster journey across the world – starting from the Phillipines, back to LA, then home to Bolton and then back to LA. Most of it has been down not to his own doing but Khan needs to discuss with Roach a way forward that will see the latter spend more time with his fighter.

Khan is at the age that he needs to be the focus of a trainer, someone who will make him the priority. Roach wont discard his long-time student Pacquaio and rightly so, but Khan needs to find a solution or even consider the possibility that he may need to part ways.

When losing to Breidis Prescott in 2008, Khan realised he had made an error of judgment in hiring Jorge Rubio. This isn’t to suggest that Khan should axe Roach but use this defeat to bring forward a solution that will be to the best of Khan’s rehabilitation. Roach, deservedly has plaudits for his well-known tactics with Pacquiao but bringing Khan back to the top of the boxing circle would be the success he could be remembered by.

What the public like about Khan is his humility, which he showed post-fight in praising his opponent. But, he needs to re-evaluate his ambitions and tone them down – i.e. that fighting Mayweather is something he needs to forget – and take small steps. If he sees the journey back as a marathon rather then a sprint, then Khan’s dedication to training can see him come back positively.

Khan is still only 25 years of age, but has taken some strong punishment in his last two fights. Boxing history is littered with fighters who’ve taken punishment and carried on and found later in life, that the hurtful shots come back to haunt them. That’s not to say something will happen to Khan but if he is to remain in the game, he needs to revert to what he does best: speed, quick combinations, footwork, ring intelligence. The ingredients that made him a world champion are the only thing that can help him back up again.