By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan isn’t just content to beat Phil Lo Greco and Kell Brook. He says he wants to capture another world title, and he involved with some big fights before he calls it a day and retires from boxing.
The 31-year-old Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) has a tough task ahead of him being able to defeat Brook and then go after one of the world champions at 147. Khan, 31, hasn’t fought in 2 years since his loss to Saul Canelo Alvarez, and there’s no telling how much he’s lost from his game through age and inactivity.
The good thing Khan has going for him is his hand speed. Khan was always faster than his competition at welterweight. Even if Khan has lost 10 to 20 percent of his hand speed in the last 2 years, he’ll still have an advantage over most of the fighters he faces at 147.
Khan is facing the 33-year-old Lo Greco (28-3, 15 KOs) on April 21 in his comeback fight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. It’s expected that Khan will beat Lo Greco with no problem. The fight will be televised on Sky Sports. If Khan gets dropped on the seat of his pants 1 or 2 times in the fight by Lo Greco, then he needs to view this as a sign that it might not be wise to go forward into dangerous fights against Brook or whoever else. Khan’s health could be at stake. He’s already suffered 3 knockout losses in his career, and those were devastating stoppages in which he was knocked nearly senseless by Canelo, Briedis Prescott and Danny Garcia.
”I want to make sure that I grab it with both hands and win another world title, win more fights, and call it a day on top,” Khan said to skysports.com. ”There are some big fights out there for me. Let’s get past the next fight Lo Greco fight,” Khan said.
Khan’s next fight after Lo Greco is likely going to be a slightly tougher test for him. Eddie Hearn, Khan’s new promoter, will likely step him up against a contender from the welterweight division. Hearn probably won’t put Khan in with anyone with a lot of punching power. It might be someone ranked low in the 147 lb. rankings like Samuel Vargas or Brandon Rios.
After Khan deals with Lo Greco, Hearn will probably look for a recognizable name to the British fans for his next fight in the summer. Dare I say, Hearn might even look to put Khan in with a faded fighter like Frankie Gavin? That wouldn’t go over well with the hardcore boxing fans, but the casuals that have heard Gavin’s name before might like the idea of Khan fighting him. The problem Khan has is he’s been out of the ring for a long time. It’s not a good idea to put him in with a welterweight that has size and power like Jamal James and Jesse Vargas. The feather-fisted Konstantin Ponomarev would be a perfect opponent for Khan to carve up. Ponomarev can’t punch, and he’s a finesse type of fighter. However, he’s with Top Rank and that might make it impossible for Khan to get a fight with him.