By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) is in a position where he can’t afford to get beaten again and he’s well aware of that. Khan has lost two out of his last three fights and if he gets beaten this month by Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) on April 27th then it’s pretty much over for Khan.
He might as well hang up the gloves and look for another line of work because another KO loss would send a message loud and clear that his chin just isn’t made for the upper levels of the game.
Khan, #2 WBA, #5 IBF, said to the dailymail.co.uk “I can’t afford to lose again – I’d be destroyed. I needed someone like Virgil to tell me straight how it is.”
I hope Khan isn’t expecting his new trainer Virgil Hunter to be the one that gives him a reality check when and if Julio Diaz knocks him clean out on April 27th because I don’t think Hunter is going to be that guy to do that.
I see Hunter as giving Khan more of the same pep talks he’s been giving him since he started training him and he’ll likely convince Khan that he does have a reason to keep fighting.
The problem is Khan will likely only do well while his promoters at Golden Boy are matching him against the Carlos Molina types to pad his record and boost his self-confidence, but once he gets matched tough again, I see Khan tasting defeat once more.
The question is how many knockout losses will Khan have to take before Hunter gives him that straight talk in telling him that he needs to hang up the gloves.
I honestly don’t think Hunter ever will. The reason why is because each time Khan loses, Golden Boy will respond in a knee-jerk reaction by putting him back in with soft competition that will make Khan look good again.
A loss to Julio Diaz will be a crushing blow to Khan’s career no doubt, but it won’t be the end because he won’t quite, and his promoters at Golden Boy won’t give up on him. He’d still be a big ticket seller in the UK, and they’d likely have him fight all of his future fights from that location because he’d still make good gate money for selling out places like the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield and the Manchester Arena.
Comments are closed.