By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) hasn’t fought in eight months since his close 12 round decision over Chris Algieri in May. As of now, it’s not looking like Khan will be fighting anytime soon. The 29-year-old Khan doesn’t have a fight scheduled, and it’s assumed by many that he’s going to stay inactive until June of this year for a big money fight against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
If it plays out like that, then Khan will have been out of the ring for over one year (13 months) since his last fight against Algieri. As much as I’d like to give Khan a chance in the Brook fight, I don’t think I could. If Khan is willing to stay out of the ring for over a year before fighting again against a potentially difficult opponent like Brook, it tells me that he’s merely looking for a big payday and not really serious about the sport like he had been in the past.
Khan has wasted approximately two years of his career chasing fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao over the last three years, and he has zero to show for the time spent. Now it looks like Khan is content to use up another five months of his career waiting on the Brook fight.
I don’t think that’s a smart thing to do. If Khan was serious about wanting to beat Brook, he’d take at least two to three tune-up fights in 2016 and then face Brook in early 2017 in the UK. By fighting three times in 2016, Khan would be in good shape to meet Brook next year and possibly beat him. But Khan needs to stop jetting around the world in traveling here and there on one vacation after another.
Instead, he should set up camp in Hayward, California and just train with his trainer Virgil Hunter 24/7 to get ready for some serious fights. Khan needs to give up the easy money life and get a used Toyota to drive around so that he can get his toughness back. I think when fighters make too much money in the sport, they lose their hunger and then just sit around waiting for one big money fight instead of staying active and being dedicated to their craft.
Khan looked really bad in his last fight against Algieri. All I can think of is all that wasted time that Khan has had trying to get fights against Mayweather and Pacquiao caused him to lose the sharpness that he had when he turned pro 11 years ago in 2005. A younger version of Khan would have easily beaten Algieri last year. But the rusty Khan that we saw in that fight was extremely fortunate to have been given the victory, because he looked like a shell of his former self.
I think Khan needs to live the life of poverty until he retires from the sport. If he can stop being a celebrity and become a hard worker, I think he can extend his career and maybe even win a world title or two. I think he can certainly make a lot of money that he can use after he retires. But while he’s still fighting, I think Khan should live off of $15,000 to $20,000 a year and stay in Union City, California and maybe take the bus to Hayward for his training each day.
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