300 AND OUT
CONGRATULATIONS to Kristian Laight on his retirement. Three-hundred fights – what an achievement! Such a number is virtually unheard of in boxing these days. Kris was once a member of the Nuneaton Boys Club and boxed there as an amateur. He was always a good, generous and courteous young man who regularly helped in the training sessions with both the junior and senior members of the club. His commitment in training was second to none.
Both myself (Gary) and my wife, Sarah, were actively involved with the club for 10 years, and Kris always turned up to the local shows we staged to help staff and trainers alike. Dennis Panter, who was one of the original coaches at the club, would have been very proud of Kris. We would all like to wish him all the best. Gary, Sarah, Jason, Sean and Ryan Edmands
16 OF THE BEST
IN response to Wayne Bailey in last week’s (September 6) issue, I would extend his proposed British/irish middleweight/super-middle tournament to 16 contestants, adding Len Harvey, Jock Mcavoy, Terry Downes, Alan Minter, Johnny Pritchett, Herol Graham and Kevin Finnegan, although I fear I may be doing some old-timers an injustice. My money would be on Harvey, Mcavoy or Joe Calzaghe. Mark Taha
WELTER BELTERS
AMIR KHAN, Errol Spence Jnr, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford, Adrien Broner etc. I have never seen the welterweight division so stacked with amazing fighters. They also all appear to want to box each other. This division is so deep that we cannot accurately say which boxer is the true champion. I can’t even hazard a guess – perhaps the currently injured Thurman?
I enjoyed reading the excellent articles on Floyd Mayweather in the August 30 issue. Looking back at his career, I’d say his prime division was lightweight. Floyd beat a bunch of talented fighters, but is he the greatest of all time? It’s impossible to say, although I do think he is the greatest lightweight of his generation. Mike Hills
KHAN’S ON THE EDGE
AFTER watching Amir Khan skirt with disaster before outpointing Samuel Vargas, I had the pleasure of watching the hard-fought scrap between Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia. As I saw Garcia bounce right hands and left hooks of Porter’s chin, I was shuddering when thinking what would happen if Khan was caught by those same shots. He would hit the canvas and likely wouldn’t be let off the hook. The body shots that Porter was digging in to Garcia’s ribs would slow Khan down in preparation for a debilitating head shot. Khan would lose to both Porter and Garcia, in my opinion, and I shudder to think what would happen if Errol Spence Jnr and Terence Crawford got hold of him.
I certainly don’t want to see Khan fight Manny Pacquaio, who is several shades past his prime also. I was one of many clamouring to see Khan fight Kell Brook, but not so much now. If I were Brook, I would walk away from Khan and cement my legacy through other means. He should take on one of the superwelterweight title-holders and seek to become a two-weight world champion.
I don’t see Khan ever becoming a world champion again. He should retire with his health intact. Every time he gets knocked out, a little piece of his ability and wellbeing gets chipped away. I don’t want to see it happen again. Paul Wickes