A Boxing Memory: Amir Khan

A Boxing Memory: Amir Khan

The end was typical of many a great fighter. Fighting more for the money rather than legacy. Amir Khan was no different from plenty who came before him. His story is sadly not that unique. Even that final ring walk that was followed by a painful defeat to an old lingering rival wasn’t quite the end. A failed drugs test was the final memory many will have of Khan. The way it all ended brought doubt and suspicion on everything that he ever achieved in the sport. It is extremely regrettable, sad even, how it all finished, and we have to remember the failed test was deemed unintentional. Khan had some peak and that decline shouldn’t cancel out his prime.

The last few fights were about rescuing his dwindling finances rather than adding to his legacy. The motivation had largely gone. The broken body had tried to tell him enough was enough. Khan knew he was all but done. Terence Crawford and Kell Brook were in many ways his retirement fights. In truth, he didn’t need them, and his body certainly didn’t need to feel them.

Khan was 35 when he finally called time on his long career. Despite his many achievements, Khan had to fight many things in his career. The road to that Olympic silver medal in Athens was fraught with battles with the Amateur Boxing Association to even reach the Olympic stage. Khan struggled for respect and acceptance when he turned professional in 2005. A shocking 1st round stoppage to Breidis Prescott in what was supposed to be his big Sky PPV launch in 2008 cemented the glass chin narrative he could never quite lose.

Khan always had to fight harder than most. He was vulnerable in multiple ways, but he was also incredibly talented with lightning-fast hands and was involved in more than his fair share of unforgettable wars. Almost certainly too many. Khan lost a fight against Danny Garcia in 2012 that he shouldn’t have, and amazingly, he never won another world title after the stoppage loss to Garcia.

At his peak, he was some fighter, and there was a period in his career when Floyd Mayweather viewed him as to bigger risk in his twilight years. For Khan, it was very much the fight that got away. At least some of his peak was wasted chasing fights that never came with Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. The fight with his big domestic rival Kell Brook was a fight Khan wasn’t interested in. He always seemed to be chasing something different. And when it came, it was many years too late. At least for him.

But before the decline brutally set in, Khan had a spell when he was one of the most exciting fighters on the planet. And one of the best. The Bolton fighter recovered quite magnificently from the Prescott setback. Khan moved his training to the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, and with Freddie Roach at the helm, Khan enjoyed the greatest period of his career.

A win over the remains of Marco Antonio Barrera was followed by his first world title. Khan was only 22 when he dazzled his way to the WBA light-welterweight title in 2009 with a comprehensive and impressive points victory over Andriy Kotelnik. Khan served up a masterclass in winning virtually every second of the fight. Big wins over the likes of Marcos Maidana and Zab Judah, which earned Khan the IBF bauble, followed. The battle with Maidana was a sensational fight, and Khan had to dig extremely deep to beat him. Khan always had heart and guts in abundance. That one fight demonstrated that. In truth, he was always too brave for his own good. And he lost fights because of it. The Danny Garcia fight is one of them.

It all started to unravel when he lost a controversial decision to Lamont Peterson in 2011, and when he got stopped by Garcia in the following fight, the Amir Khan story looked over. In some ways, it was.

Khan moved up to welterweight and left Freddie Roach for Virgil Hunter, but it was a relationship that never seemed to reap the rewards it promised. A move up to middleweight to fight Canelo Alvarez in 2016 always looked doomed to failure. And it was. Khan did well in the early stages before one brutal right hand ended his night in the 6th round. It was a savage knockout that took away plenty from Khan.

The loss to Alvarez was followed by the lowest point of his life. Khan found out most of his ring earnings had gone. A bitter fall-out with some of his inner circle followed and his personal life got dragged through the mainstream media. Khan had never been lower. Any thoughts of retirement, and there was, had to be put to one side. He needed to fight because he needed the big money to secure life after boxing.

Khan knew he was past his sell-by date in fights that should have been routine wins that turned into anything but. The defeats to Crawford and in his last fight in 2022 to Kell Brook were sad affairs. The long-awaited grudge fight with Brook was a case of who had the most left. It came at least five years too late. Khan took it because he needed the money. Brook took it because he wanted the win.

The way his career slowly fizzled out after what came before was predictable, but no less sad. The failed drugs test and subsequent two-year ban that followed his loss to Brook will probably always haunt him. But before that inevitable decline was a peak that was truly a thing of beauty. The absolute boxing clinic against Kotelnik that earned Khan his first world title and that incredibly savage war with Maidana is how many will choose to remember him. Two fights that showed two completely different sides to his fighting style. Khan said more than anything he wanted to entertain. He most certainly achieved that.

The career of Amir Khan could and should have ended differently. But I suspect history will be kind to him. It should.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson