I have been ridiculed, unfairly so in my opinion, for expressing my wanton thought processes in the local when it comes to boxing. As any real man such as myself knows the local pub is where a lot, if not most, of the best boxing banter occurs (and indeed fights depending in which part of Stoke you live in). Being a somewhat pugilist sage, in my local and wider community, I am still happily surprised when people wish to enter into a boxing debate with me. Not least of all because it gives me a chance to hear others opinions – even though they are largely wrong and not worth hearing, unlike mine. Whilst I have spent a lot of time in America, and like to call it a second home, even though it is my mum who owns a second home there and lets me stay over, the knowledge in the States isn’t as widespread on important matters e.g Amir Khan. Unlike here in the greatest country on earth, Great Britain (mostly England), everyone knows who Amir Khan is. Most people will remember him for three reasons, which are i) he won an Olympic medal, ii) he got knocked out by John Prescott’s nephew and iii) he beat up some blokes trying to nick his Range Rover or is an awesome boxer. This highly informative and easy to read article aims to synthesize many parts of my knowledge to create a wider spectrum for the uninformed, and mostly yank culprits, who do not see what all us Great Britons see – Khan is King (not literal). In my opinion he is pound for pound number one above the likes of Mayweather and Timothy Bradley.
1) The Breidis Prescott fight was a fluke
This is perhaps the most important of all the points I am going to make. Up until the Prescott fight Amir Khan was an unbeaten professional, beating big names such as my personal hero Scott Lawton and some other blokes I can’t remember the name of. In the twenty three and a half seconds he was standing Amir Khan was clearly ahead on all three judges’ scorecards before he got hit with a fluke punch. Khan had landed a triple jab before becoming semi-conscious lest we forget. I believe this fight can best be summed up by YouTube user DangledirtDumpadonk who states “best fight ever. never get bored of seeing this masterpiece of pure delight makes u want to have children so they can witness this sheer brilliance”. Yes, those three jabs were that good people still talk about them today. Don’t let this knockout defeat on Amir’s resume fool you, Khan is iron chinned and only the most depraved individuals would argue against it (remember the Maidana fight for example). A lot of people ask me “Hey, handsome and knowledgeable big Mav why won’t Khan rematch Prescott?” The answer to this is simple, just rewatch the first twenty three seconds of the fight. Amir was clearly winning and ahead on all three judges scorecards. The rematch would be such a non-contest it would be a waste of fight fans money and Amir knows this. In today’s recession who wants to watch a far superior fighter beat up on a bum? Nobody. This is why Amir is taking on the challenging fight with Diaz.
2) The Danny Garcia fight was a fluke
It is perhaps easy to see why people think the Danny Garcia victory against Amir Khan is legitimate. But just like the Vietnam War we can make certain cases for the supposedly losing party. In this fight Amir Khan provided more excitement then both Floyd Mayweather’s ever did in the ring. He went toe to toe with an unbeaten guy who had knocked out almost 60% of the bums he had gone up against (slightly higher than Ricky Martin’s percentage). Had it not been for an over protective referee Amir would have gone on to win that fight which is all that really matters. Almost 40 years ago Ali was allowed to rope a dope his way to victory against a grill salesman. Amir Khan employed this same technique but just did it in a more realistic possum sort of way. Tragically the referee stopped the fight! Unbelievable. People today just don’t recognize the cunning ring strategy of a true boxing genius like Amir Khan.
3) Amir is a true warrior
Whilst on a night out on the tiles Amir Khan returned to his vehicle to find six hefty blokes about to pinch it. Being the sort of bloke he is and with help from his brother Amir Khan proceeded to punch these would be Ranger Rover joy riders enough times, and with enough power, to make them leave his expensive car alone. This is some super hero stuff right there like off Kick Ass or some shit. When has Mayweather ever fought anyone (who wasn’t a defenceless woman) outside of the ring? Luckily for the six men none of them were cyclists else Amir Khan probably would have drove into them on a roundabout.
4) Amir is the future
It is easy to forget how young Amir Khan is. In fact I have forgotten. Whatever his age is, the guy is still young. In his 20’s at the latest. Yet through the years Amir Khan has developed into a fighter who has beaten the likes of Zab Judah and if rumours are to be believed he severely belted Manny Pacquiao in the face whilst sparring with him under the guidance of Freddie Roach and made his goatee beard drop off. With his insane natural talents and tightly honed skills Amir Khan has really developed as a fighter. He doesn’t avoid challenges and seeks out the best fights out there. Unlike Bradley or Mayweather. Thankfully boxing has someone like Amir who seeks out the best and isn’t content to sit back and let his prime years waste away.
IN CLOSING
It won’t be long until Amir Khan is recognized by everyone as the true pound for pound King which I believe is his destiny. Hopefully the above four points will help people understand the true aspects of Khan’s career up to date. He doesn’t have any legitimate losses as both knockout defeats can be explained away quite simply much like UFO sightings (swamp gas reflecting off a weather balloon in 90% of cases). The Lamont Peterson fight should in my opinion be turned into a win for Amir because he clearly was robbed. How can you knock a guy over numerous times, hit him more than he hits you and still get loose? Only in America. It is unfortunate that in today’s society with all this modern technology where we can bomb countries with drones we still cannot get a system which scores boxing contests correctly. We also shouldn’t forget that Timothy Bradley has been ducking Amir Khan for years because he knows he will get hammered and lives in fear of Khan. Bradley seems to be getting gift decisions at the minute so it is best Khan doesn’t fight him. Hopefully though once Khan wins his fight versus Diaz we will get to see a megafight versus Mayweather as it is the only one which makes sense. That is a fight boxing needs and will raise the profile of Amir Khan to levels beyond that of Money Mayweather in the USA and see him truly embraced and hopefully Americans won’t be so scared of his British accent any longer which may be holding him back. Fear always works to influence the population when the population is uneducated. America – you have just been educated.
Yours in manliness,
Fantana
About the author – Follow Fantana on twitter @MavFantana