By Mohammed Abulkhair: There is no doubt that former WBA and IBF Light Welterweight champion Amir “King” Khan has the attributes of speed, movement, and heart. However, those three do not really mean much if you do not have a chin that goes with them. I am not saying that you need the chin of the great “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler or Carlos Monzon, but in boxing you need a decent chin to keep you in the game.

After being knocked out in the first round by Breidis Prescott in 2008, Khan vowed to come back stronger and more determined. After the Prescott fight Khan would fight boxers who did not really have that umph in their punching power; i.e. Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Malignaggi, and Dmitriy Salita. When Khan took on brawler Maidana he looked very good until the 10th round, Maidana then landed a beautiful overhand right that rocked Khan.

In Khan’s credit he was not knocked out or knocked down in that fight, and that’s where he showed his heart. However, I believe if it was not for the referee that kept on breaking up the fight the outcome could have been possibly different. After that fight, Khan took on the likes of Paul McCloskey and a past prime Zab Judah and won both. Then came on Lamont Peterson which was supposed to be one of the last fights that Khan would take at light welterweight, then he would move up to the 147 pound division. I believe that fight should have been called a NC (no contest) due to Peterson positive test results of steroids. The one thing I hate in boxing is cheaters, and I believe in Olympic Style Testing. After the loss however, Khan decided to fight one last time in the light welterweight division, and that came against the young Danny Garcia. Khan boxed beautifully in the first two rounds but then came the third round, and Danny landed a well-timed devastating left hook. The punches you do not see often inflict the most damage, and certainly that left hook made its mark.

Days after the fight word came out that Khan might leave his trainer Freddie Roach. As quoted by Khan from dailymail.co.uk “In the next couple of months, I’m going to find out who can help me. I need to improve. I’m a Freddie Roach fighter, but things can change. I will sit down with my team and throw a few names around and make a decision. It’s something I need to speak to Freddie about. I need at least 10 weeks one-to-one preparation for fights.” Khan does not need a new trainer; however, he needs to start listening to the instructions of his trainer. Freddie Roach did not want Khan to brawl with Garcia, he wanted him to move around and box. However, I believe the trash talking between the two camps got the best of Khan that night, and that’s where things started turning south for Khan. I believe Khan will always have trouble with boxers who can punch not because of his trainers, but because of his chin. If Khan still plans on retiring at the young age of 28, he does not have much time to really make adjustments to his chin. However, I wish him the best of luck for his future.
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