By Jonathan Watkins: The more than familiar sight of a victorious Amir Khan is unlikely to change anytime soon after he announced his next fight to be against Columbian fighter Breidis Prescott. But what has changed is where boxing fans will be able to watch the Bolton born fighter. Khan and promoter Frank Warren have ended their association with ITV by signing a multi-fight deal with Sky Sports.
The move away from ITV seems to be a positive one for Khan, indicating his ambitions to move up the ranks and aspire to participate in future title fights. However while Khans career looks to be ever promising, ITV seem to be losing their grip on the boxing entertainment industry. With Setanta and Sky battling it out to broadcast the big fights, ITV will be left to pick up the pieces of the fights that the other two aren’t interested in broadcasting. Watching a quality fight for free could now be a thing of the past for boxing fans.
But enough about the past, the future of British boxing does seem to be Amir Khan. Despite criticism of the choice of his next opponent, Khan seems to be easing his way into the big leagues of boxing. However after only 18 professional fights, for fans to be calling for Khan to face the likes of Manny Pacquiao is a tad premature. Khan has looked comfortable in the majority of his 18 victories, but he cannot be thrown in at the deep end at such an early stage of his career. So I believe the decision of his next fight does have some plus points, even if some believe it is a step back for him.
Columbian fighter Breidis Prescott boasts an impressive record of 17 knockouts from 19 fights; however, the record is slightly misleading when looking at his opponents. Despite lacking some natural speed, the Columbian does has power and strength on his side, which could provide the British boxer some difficulties. Khan will be relying on teachings from his new defensive coach Jorge Rubio to avoid any devastating punches from Prescott, but realistically Khan should overcome this challenge without too much trouble. His speed and agility should cancel out the Columbians height advantage, providing Khan with a chance to demonstrate his talents, both defending and attacking. Khan’s abilities were brought into dispute when Michael Gomez floored him with a powerful left hook in his previous fight in June.
After declaring he wanted to face the winner of Manny Pacquiao and David Diaz, both Khan and Warren agreed that he is not ready for a title fight at present, after witnessing his bout against Gomez. An appropriate statement it seems, as Khan had to endure a tough fight that night in June; the brutal encounter with Gomez was Khan’s most challenging bout to-date.
The fight on September the 6th should be comfortable for Khan, but after showing vulnerabilities in his previous bout, fighting the Columbian could be the perfect stage to show what he has learnt from new coach Rubio, and to take away Prescott’s unbeaten record. With critics calling this fight a negative move in Khan’s career, he will have to put in an impressive performance to silence those who have doubted his decision.
I see this fight against a slightly lesser opponent to be acceptable in order for Khan to keep up both his form and winning ways. To move forward in his career though, Khan will have to step-up to tougher opponents in the future, providing him with opportunities to establish a worldwide reputation within boxing. After this fight against Prescott, Khan will have to look at more reputable fighters in the lightweight division, if his dreams of a world title are to be achieved any time soon.
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