By John F. McKenna (McJack): Former IBF and WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) is at a crossroads in his career after suffering back to back losses. When Khan lost to the now disgraced Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) last December the loss could be explained away. The loss to Peterson was a highly controversial decision and it was later revealed that Lamont had taken a synthetic testosterone prior to the fight.

His defeat to WBC/WBA and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (24-0, 15 KO’s) Saturday night however was not controversial and was particularly painful for the native of Bolton, England. Amir was stopped after being floored once in the 3rd round and two more times in the 4th round. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the contest when it was clear that Khan was in no condition to continue. Even Amir’s trainer veteran Freddie Roach conceded that he had contemplated stopping the fight after the 3rd round.

So where does Khan go from here? There have been many suggestions that perhaps it is time for Amir to consider hanging up the gloves. IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch has gone on record as calling for Khan to retire. Amir bristled at that suggestion and insisted that he will continue with his career.

Khan himself acknowledged that he got careless during the fight with Garcia. And once again Amir ignored the advice of Roach and foolishly decided to start trading shots with Garcia. It was clear that Khan had the upper hand during the first two rounds. He used his superior hand speed to beat Danny to the punch time after time. However, even when he was piling up points Khan neglected to use his jab.

The loss to Garcia is the 2nd fight in a row that it could be argued Amir gave the fight away to a less talented fighter. Whatever anyone thinks of Khan one would have to concede that he has extraordinary hand speed and packs a decent punch. His chin once again however let him down.

It was hoped by Khan’s brain trust after his loss to Peterson that he had learned his lesson. In the Peterson fight Amir appeared to lose focus on the fight at hand and seemed to be preoccupied instead with landing a future fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Once again in the lead up to the Garcia fight Khan began obsessing about Mayweather going so far as to say that he had the tools to defeat the pound for pound king.

A year ago trainer Roach was telling everyone who would listen that Khan would be the pound for pound king within 18 months. Now a year later Amir’s career hangs in the balance of what happens in his next fight.

It’s clear that Khan needs to go back to the drawing board and refocus on his skills and utilizing them to maximum advantage. Khan will never be a slugger. He needs to take advantage of his God given ability and box his opponents rather than attempting to go toe to toe with them. Khan also needs to fight his way back up the ladder and focus on his opponent rather than obsess about possible future opponents. Another loss would certainly spell curtains for a fighter who just a year ago showed so much promise.