By Gary Burns: Amir Khan has been handed a shot at WBA junior welterweight champ Andreas Kotelnik this summer but the backlash on Khan has been quite phenomenal. Boxing fans around the world have been quick to jump on Khans back saying he is taking an easy route to becoming a world champion.
The general consensus is that Kotelnik is one of the weaker champions in the Lightweight/Junior welterweight categories and that by beating him proves nothing about Khans credentials as a world champion. Even in England, home of Amir, there are plenty who would like to see Khan beaten, exposed or even knocked out. Why would a fighters own countrymen want to see this?
In my opinion I feel how Khan has been packaged and promoted has a lot to do with it. Hyped to the highest possibility and then exposed when he took a step into the unknown against Prescott. The boxing public saw straight through the hype. Yet we are still told he is the “next big thing”.
What has become an issue in boxing particularly in the last decade are managers and promoters over protecting their fighters. It is fair to say that management know that if their fighter gets beaten they have less of a chance making it financially in this business.
The result of this is fighters taking the easiest of routes possible to world title fights. If they win they will take the easiest of defences possible. The more time they can stay undefeated the more likely they will eventually get the big purses for big fights.
Hatton and Calzaghe had to wait until the latter parts of their careers before they could demand huge paycheques. The result unfortunately for the sport is often that the best do not fight the best which is guaranteed in almost every other sport.
What has also become an issue is television companies and promoters tendency to put fights on pay-per-view that far from warrant it. In the current financial crisis that has hit the globe value for money is something that has become a concern for the boxing public. People are willing to shell out money for a fight.
No problem. I will pay for Hatton-Pacquiao any day. But Khan-Kotelnik? Forgive me for wanting to spend my money on a few pints instead. I think it will be an ok fight but it is far from pay-per-view quality.
Every manager wants the best for their boxers. They want to make as much money for them as they can and of course look after themselves along the way. Brian Peters, Bernard Dunne’s promoter did a similar thing when matching done against the lesser of the super-bantamweight champs in Cordoba but why then did Dunne not come in for the same criticism?
Dunne was criticised by his fellow countrymen after the Martinez shock similar to Khan after Prescott. So why was their not a media back lash against Dunne? Because the fight was given to the national broadcaster RTE and was available to everyone free of charge in Ireland anyway. The fight turned out to be a contender for fight of the year as it happens.
Boxing has always been a business. More so than any sport boxing is all about the business. Fights will only take place if the business deals are done. Everyone knows this. What the powers that be in boxing have done is made the sport secondary to the business side of things. The business of boxing has become the boxing of business. It is just another way to make money and unfortunately the sport will not benefit from his style of match making.
I have not mentioned Khan in this and I do believe his personality adds to some of the criticism towards him but boxers are notoriously confident and cocky. Khan is no different. All the paying public want is for him to prove himself first before we part with what little money we have left!!
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