By John F. McKenna (McJack): The one man to defeat IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-1, 18 KO’s) in 2008, has been hurling barbs and baiting Khan ever since, in an effort to lure Amir back into the ring with him.

Breidis Prescott (24-2, 19 KO’s) knocked out Amir in the first round of their fight at lightweight three years when Khan was 21 years old.

Since the 2008 fight however, Prescott has lost two fights and has not faced the best competition since his losses. Amir Khan on the other hand has improved markedly since his one round KO loss to Breidis. In addition Khan has gone on to become a major draw and has picked up both the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) title belts.

Khan for his part appears to be looking forward and not to the past. He recently has made no secret of his desire to fight Floyd Mayweather in the near future. Amir’s trainer Freddie Roach has gone on record to say that Khan will be the best pound for pound fighter in the world within the next two years and that he is ahead of the timetable he had set for him.

Many of Amir’s critics claim that he won’t fight Prescott because he fears being KO’d again. That argument however lacks real credibility when you consider that Khan took on Marcos Maidana, who many consider to be a more dangerous foe than Prescott.

Khan recently got under Prescott’s skin when he predicted that Paul McCloskey would defeat him in their upcoming fight on September 10. Making matters more difficult for Breidis is the fact that he is only ranked #6. Humberto Soto who is ranked #1 will undoubtedly also want a shot at Amir’s titles. In any case Breidis Prescott needs to get past Paul McCloskey on September 10 before he gives too much thought to fighting Khan again.

The reality is that Amir Khan is not the same fighter Breidis Prescott defeated in 2008. He has shown improvement in each of his most recent fights and is even much improved over the fighter who defeated Marcos Maidana in December 2010. More importantly Khan has demonstrated that he can take a punch and that he is a warrior. He was rocked by Maidana’s best power shots, but he was still there at the end.