I cannot help but wonder why so many people follow Amir Khan. His career has been marked by blemishes rather than achievement. Khan started with a wonderful 18-0 record before he was knocked out by Breidis Prescott. Prescott was a high flying prospect at the time but has since been exposed as a mere journeyman fighter.
Khan then recovered to win his next 8 fights. Those included TKOs over Dmitriy Salita (30-0-1 at the time), TKO over Paul Malignaggi, an old Zab Judah, and Marcos Maidana. Maidana is in my opinion, the best win on his resume.
He followed up that win streak with a controversial split decision loss to Lamont Peterson. While watching the fight, I was blown away by the referee calling for the point deduction which cost him a win. In the referee’s defense Khan was pushing which is a point deduction at his discretion, albeit one that we never see. The Peterson loss was then followed up by the TKO loss to Danny Garcia.
In response to the back-to-back loss, Khan recovered by beating Carlos Molina (17-0-1) for the vacant WBC Silver light welterweight title. Molina was cut in the first round and retired after the tenth round. In the process Khan broke both of his hands. Amir, who while having 19 knockouts to his name, is not known to be a large puncher. Broken hands at the age of 26 is very concerning for any boxer as it will usually continue to happen with the increase in wear and tear that comes from this brutal sport.
Amir Khan has had a nice career up to this point but he is not a superstar. He has nothing in his fight history to make him one. His links to famous trainers and his unique personal background have lifted him to a level of fame that he has not earned in the ring. While I understand why we are all fans of certain specific fighters for one reason or nothing, I do not understand why Khan receives the great amount of love from such large sections of boxing fans.
If I could give Amir one piece of advice, please do not fight Manny Pacquiao in 2013. He will hurt you worse than Danny Garcia ever could. Amir needs to show himself against top level competition before he tries to beat one of the greatest. With his defensive shortcomings and now broken hands, I cannot see how Amir Khan ever lives up to his fan’s expectations. Amir should level back his expectations or retire because the future does not look as bright for him as many seem to think.
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