Like so many fighters before him, Amir Khan said he would retire either before or by his 30th birthday. Yet the former Olympian and 140-pound world champion, who today celebrates his 35th birthday, is still going strong. Or is he? Khan will be back on top, sort of, if he wins his long awaited grudge-match with Kell Brook in February. But what then? At age 35 and with a 34-5(21) record, Khan has accomplished a whole lot.
With wins over, Andriy Kotelnik, Paulie Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana (this THE biggest, most impressive win of Khan’s entire career), Zab Judah, Luis Collazo, Devon Alexander, Chris Algieri, and a faded Marco Antonio Barrera, Khan does have quite the resume. The losses, to Breidis Prescott, Lamont Peterson (in controversial fashion), Danny Garcia, Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, might spoil Khan’s image yet he never went down without a fight (the Prescott disaster aside).
It might be a question destined to be shot down hard, but is Khan a fighter with a shot at going into The Hall of Fame one day? Those big wins (Maidana, Judah, Kotelnik) losing).
If Khan does beat Brook, then gets a revenge fight with Garcia and wins that one, then just maybe the Bolton man will at least become eligible to be voted for as far as entrance into The Hall of Fame goes.
One thing we can agree on is the fact that Khan, love him or hate him, always gave us exciting fights. And did Khan ever really duck or dodge anyone? Brook has been made to wait the longest time but he will finally be accommodated in around three months’ time. How much will Khan be able to show us at age 35? How much is left of the once supremely fast boxer who was too much of a gutsy warrior for his own good?
Khan insists the age of 35 is nothing to call old. We will see come February 19th. Or maybe we won’t. For now, Khan is still talking the good fight.