The grey hairs in his beard give Amir Khan a regular reminder that he is not as young as he once was.
The one-time boy wonder of British boxing is now entering the veteran stage of his career, but his ambitions remain undimmed, even if his legion of believers is growing smaller.
Last night Khan flew from his training base beside San Francisco Bay to New York, where he will challenge Terence Crawford for the WBO welterweight title on Saturday. In a sport with multiple world champions, Khan could scarcely have picked a tougher opponent, but that is the way he likes it.
Khan has seldom shied away from a challenge. Three years ago he was knocked unconscious by Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez in Las Vegas in a brave attempt to move up two weight divisions to win the world middleweight title.
Crawford (below), an unbeaten three-weight world champion, is being framed as a similar unwinnable task. Since this fight was announced, Khan has spent much of his time attempting to convince people that he has a chance.
?A lot of people have been writing me off,? Khan said. ?Everyone is knocking me, no one really thinks I can win. But I am getting a lot of respect for taking a big fight like this and not being afraid.
?I want more respect than that. I?m not just taking this fight because I?m a tough guy, a ballsy guy, I?m taking this fight because I know I can win.
?As long as I am confident in myself and I know I have done everything right, that is what matters. I want to show people what I am about. This is a hard fight but I know I have the tools to win it.?
There is a certain symmetry to this bout, which takes place at Madison Square Garden. Nine years ago Khan made his American debut at the Garden?s theatre, defending his WBA light-welterweight title against Paulie Malignaggi. Then he was on the way up, boxing?s hot young thing, clutching a new multi-million pound contract with Golden Boy Promotions.
Now he fights in the Garden?s big arena and faces a battle to prove that he is not on the way down.
?The Malignaggi fight seems a long time ago,? Khan said. ?It was the fight where I introduced myself to America, it was a great time. I remember every fight, but I never really think about the memories around the fight. I will spend more time thinking about those after I have retired ? all the great venues I have fought in and the big names I have fought as well.?
These days 32 is not old for a boxer. But Khan relies on speed and that fades. When he was an amateur, making the nation sit up as he won an Olympic silver medal aged 17, his punch output was so frenetic, he would overwhelm opponents so he hardly had to worry about what they threw back.
It was a style that was storing up problems for the future, though. Over 12 rounds as a professional, opponents could suck it up and wait for an opening. Danny Garcia created the blueprint to beating Khan, in the Englishman?s secondlast world title fight in 2012. Garcia took a pounding early on, but found one big left hook to turn things around.
