In 1902 in Burton on Trent, Staffordshire in England. A newly founded food company produced a yeast extract savoury spread, intended for use on things like toast or crackers. Six years late in 1908 the Sanitarium Health Food Company obtained the rights to distribute the product in New Zealand, and Australia. There product has the slogan ?You either love it or hate it.? If you didn?t already know, I?m talking about Marmite.
Now at this point if you?re wondering why I?m talking about Marmite, it?s in the Slogan. I heard there advert on the TV and it set me off thinking about how some boxers are hated or loved. Fighters like Pacquiao and Mayweather to name two, when people watch their fights half tune in to see them win the fight the other to see them get knocked out. Then I thought about Fighters at home in the UK that might fall into the same category.
One such Fighter is Bolton?s Amir Khan, Amir was born on the 8th of December 1986. Khan began boxing competitively at the age of 11, and won many different honours. At the age of 17 he was Britain’s sole representative in boxing at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, picking up the Silver medal in the final losing to veteran Cuban, Mario Kindelan. Because of his Olympic success the young Khan would become an overnight star in the UK.
Khan turned Professional in 2005 winning his debut against David Bailey via first round TKO. But strangely the nation?s attitude towards him started to change. He notched up 18 wins before he came unstuck when he was brutally knocked out by Big punching Columbian Breidis Prescott in the first minute of the first found. Many people considered this the beginning of the end for Khan and that there would be no coming back from a loss like that, but after picking himself back up Khan had other plans.
Following his loss Khan sacked trainer Jorge Rubio, and headed for the U.S.A to team up with multi award winning trainer Freddy Roach at his Wildcard gym, sparring with the likes of P4P king Manny Pacquiao. Khan would bounce back straight away stopping Oisin Fagan in the second round, setting up a showdown with Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera. Khan defeated Barrera by a controversial technical decision, the fight was stopped in the fifth round due to Barrera suffering a cut in the first round from a clash of heads. The fight then went to the scorecards where Khan was ahead on all three 50?44, 50?45, 50?45.
Leaving lightweight (135lb) behind, Amir moved up to light welterweight(140lb) to face WBA champion Andreas Kotelnik winning a unanimous decision and capturing his first world title. Quite an achievement bouncing back considering only three fights ago he was written off by many. In his next outing he turned the tables stopping Dmitriy Salita in under a minute, setting up his American debut against former IBF champion Paul Malignaggi. After brief drama at the weigh-in, Khan Stopped his challenger in 11 one sided rounds to retain his title.
Despite being one of the country?s best and most skilled fighters, an Olympic medallist, WBA world champion and a One of the biggest players at 140lbs. The public perception of Khan differs quite widely, and just like Marmite some people love him, some hate him. So I decided to do a bit of investigating to find out a few of the reasons people dislike him. After looking on various forums and reading some other articles here are a few things I have noticed.
No 1, apparently not given challenges, been over protected and avoiding punchers. Khan seems to receive a lot of criticism for avoiding a fight with Mandatory Marcos Maidana, holder of the Interim version of Khans title. My opinion here is this fight needs to happen if Amir wants to prove to the critics he?s not a coward and scared of punchers like some say and his chins not as shaky as they would like to think. Although I don?t see why it has to be right away, I?d say it?s the hardest fight he has faced so far and I could understand if he went for a tune up first instead.
No2, being overrated ?chinny? and the Prescott loss. It?s been said has only looks great against lesser opponents and hasn?t proved anything yet, and if a ?bum? like Prescott can knock him out with ease anyone with half his skill will do the same. Again this is not really the best basis to dislike a fighter after all plenty of fighters lose to less skilled fighters in their careers, as for the ?chinny? thing I don?t think that?s the real issue. More the fact they want to see his chin tested again, something people don?t consider him to have done since Prescott.
No3, the old race/religion card. Obviously to a real boxing fan this apparent issue doesn?t even come into consideration. But as much as I hate to say it, it is to those narrow minded sorts who call themselves fans. Khan born in England to Pakistani Parents is a Sunni Muslim and for some reason this is a problem to some and just another reason to dislike one of the country?s best young fighters. Yet no one really bats an eyelid if a Asian or a Muslim Football player joined the football team they support, all that really matters is that there good players and do well for the team.
These are the main three reasons I came across as to why people have a dislike for Khan. Although there were just as many with something good to say about him, so instead of stating the obvious reasons to like him I added a few of their comments instead.
?He?s the perfect example of what a good trainer could do, he?s got natural talent but Roach has definitely made him a better fighter.? ?Yeah he?s a good guy, polite, respectful to his parents yeah he comes across well, he can be arrogant at times but he?s a fighter not a choirboy.?
?I?ve only seen a few of his fights, but he seems a decent fighter, got the ability and spirit to go on and do well in the sport and no doubt hold onto his title, and don?t forget we aint seen him in his prime yet.?
?Great potential, with the best trainer at the moment I honestly don’t see much going wrong for him! He’s good for publicity & has already broken through in America at a young age unlike past Brits leaving it too late.?
?Amir overrated at the moment, but could yet prove to be a major force and recognised possibly as one of Britain’s all time greats.?
So obviously some rate him higher than others but while some might think it?s a bad thing, other fighters like Naseem Hamed, Floyd Mayweather ect have proved having a love hate relationship with the fans can work in your favour. As just as many fans will pay just to see a fighter they don?t like maybe get KO?d. And while Khan will never be able to change everyone?s opinion of him, he could go a long way to regaining and making new fans by giving them what they ask to see rather than showing them what they have already seen. That said Khan has said he wants the big fights and to unify the titles sooner rather, so why not give him the benefit of the doubt. After all If as some people seem to think, and he is running, eventually there will be nowhere left to hide.
