Khan could still be king of the jungle
WELCOME BACK, Amir Khan. It is good to have you in the ring gain.
Two years is a long time to be idle and, from the looks of it, there is only so much time you can spend profitably in a celebrity jungle.
To be fair to Khan (above), his appearance on the reality TV show revealed what a top fella he is (strawberries and cream comedy theft aside), and the positive reaction he received will have given him a huge lift.
After the devastating defeat in 2016 to Saul Alvarez at middleweight, Khan has accepted he is better at welterweight, and there are some great fights out there should he get back to his best.
He is returning to the States to train with Virgil Hunter, who, interestingly, advised against taking the Canelo fight.
Though he was ahead on the cards before the old equaliser landed, his vulnerability about the whiskers always tempted that fate.
At welterweight, Khan (in the jungle, below) is less susceptible to being dropped. But, as the defeats to Breidis Prescott and Danny Garcia also show, the possibility will always be a feature of the Khan landscape. But what an exciting fighter he is. His mighty scrap with Marcos Maidana seven years ago was quintessential Khan, brilliant and brave.
How he survived the barrage in the 10th is anyone’s guess, but straight off Maidana could not lay a glove on Khan, and was down in the first to a wicked body shot.
It was only Khan’s fighting heart that kept him upright in the championship rounds and his recovery to win was epic.
The victories over Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, both world-class fighters, were peak Khan, his quick feet taking him in and out of range and his fast hands and jab dictating the pace.
Hand on heart, I don’t know how much he has left. He’s had 35 bouts, the same number as me when I retired, but he has campaigned twice as long, turning pro 13 years ago.
His achievement at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, winning silver and losing in the final only to an all-time Cuban great in Mario Kindelan, marked him out as a special talent. He deserves another crack at the big time and has a decent chance.
His return will be in Britain, but Khan is not frightened to travel. Home or away, it would be great to see him share a ring with Errol Spence, Keith Thurman and Terence Crawford. The Kell Brook ship has probably sailed, but never say never.