THE bitterness in Amir Khan?s voice is understandable. An Olympic silver medallist at 17, and world champion at 22, he now finds himself being ushered towards the boxing scrapheap at just 25. Gifted, patriotic, and intensely brave, Khan is all fighter. But the animal within was out of control against the unfancied Danny Garcia in July.
Khan could smell blood during the early going. He was in control but his instincts were off, Garcia not as wounded as the Brit believed. The pursuit, exciting as it was, became careless. Khan was put down hard in round three, before victory was finally ravaged during a violent fourth. Within minutes, obituaries on Khan?s career were everywhere.
?I?ll always get criticised but look, it?s never going to go away,? Khan says with vengeance on his mind. ?At the end of the day I?m the one in the ring, I?m the one who?s fighting but you?ll always get criticised ? it?s one of those things and that?s boxing for you. People can talk crap but you just come back stronger, so let them talk. Look at the likes of Lennox Lewis who got knocked out and came back from it. So many guys have come back from it.?
Lewis, who came back from two stunning knockout defeats to retire as one of the finest British boxers of all time, was firmly on Khan?s side the day after his loss.
?What?s this madness with people saying Amir Khan should retire?? Lewis tweeted. ?He?s STILL one of the elite fighters in the game. #Nonsense.?
Given what Khan has achieved, Lewis is right. Amir has already proved he has it in his make-up to return. In the last Olympic year, 2008, Khan was knocked out by Breidis Prescott inside a round. It triggered a glorious eight-fight win streak that netted him the WBA and IBF light-welterweight title.
Initially he was faultless in his approach, carefully beating up Marco Antonio Barrera before putting on a clinic against Andreas Kotelnyk and flattening Dmitry Salita. He proved his bravery in a thrilling shootout with Marcos Maidana. But it was in that bout he also displayed the failings that would eventually catch him out; that desire to prove his mettle. A desire he must temper. The Bolton man, it seems, is starting to realise he operates on dangerous ground.
?I?ve fought all the top guys, I?ve not taken a step back, I?ve done similar to what Carl Froch has done ? I?ve fought everyone in the division, all my opponents have been highly ranked. If you compare my record to Kell Brook or some of the other guys, and look at who I?m fighting and who they?ve been fighting, you can see who is fighting at the higher level. I?m fighting the best, so win or lose, they?re all tough fights.?
Khan is determined to take things back to basics, to concentrate on his defence, to learn from his mistakes. He wants the tough fights to be easy again. He admits he is considering changing his trainer, Freddie Roach. Khan?s mind is in the future.
?I never, never considered retirement. I?m 25. Around 28 is still my target to retire so it?s time to start winning everything and planning my future. I?ll see how I feel at 28. I started at such a young age and I have achieved so much at a young age that people keep expecting too much.
?But I?m happy with my career and the way things have gone; I?ve experienced defeat and coming back from it, and I?ve shown I can do that. It happened in the amateurs and in the pros I knew it would happen and it shows how much heart you have, and how much of a fighter you are if you come back from defeats.?
