By James Slater – WBA light-welterweight champion Amir Khan, fresh off that great win over the hard-hitting Marcos Maidana, is refusing to allow his victory to be tarnished by claims he has taken illegal substances. According to an exclusive interview in today’s Boxing Day issue of British paper The Star, Khan and his conditioning coach Alex Ariza have been stung by claims from Maidana’s trainer Miguel Diaz that the 24-year-old “cheated” his way to victory by way of taking illegal substances.
Reportedly, Diaz called Ariza “a fraud,” and upon hearing this, Khan fired back in anger. Insisting that he and stable mate Manny Pacquiao are both clean fighters, Khan says any talk that he is a cheat is simply proof of how people are jealous of him and his success..
“It is hurtful,” Khan told The Star in reference to the drug claims. “I am drug tested and have never tested positive because I am so clean. I don’t even drink. I would never, ever take a banned substance. I am too scared to take something like that. When people say something like that, they are just trying to make you look bad.
“Why don’t people say Maidana is on something because the [punching] power he has got is mad? He has got power that not many fighters have. I think a lot of people are jealous.”
Speculation that Khan “may be on something” surfaced after the brilliant points win over the Argentine banger, due to how Khan was able to somehow take Maidana’s best punches. A great many people were shocked at Khan’s ability to come back from such hurtful punches, especially seeing as how he was destroyed inside a minute by that other big-hitter in Breidis Prescott. How was Khan suddenly able to take bomb after bomb when previously he had been decked by guys like Willie Limond and Michael Gomez? Well, the answer some people have is that it is because Khan has somehow strengthened his chin by taking illegal stimulants.
Of course, there is absolutely no proof of this, and Khan says he is a much stronger fighter now due to his not being a weight-drained fighter any more. And one look at Khan’s seriously thickened legs lets you know how stronger he is today. This is down to the hard work he and Ariza have put in in the gym, not due to cheating.
Still, whatever Khan says, some fans will continue to believe he is a cheat. Khan has also come to the defence of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao; who has had a ton of accusations hurled at him with regards to taking steroids (again, without a shred of evidence).
“Manny is wary of drugs and dislikes injections of any kind,” Khan said. “He is a normal, clean fighter who is not on drugs. He told me, ‘Amir, I will never take a drug in my life, but when [Floyd] Mayweather is demanding I take tests every day it is mental and I’m not ready for that.’”
Of course, fans are divided on the whole Mayweather-Pacquiao thing. Some fans say Mayweather invented the whole steroid story as a way of getting out of the fight he feels he cannot win, while other fans insist Pac-Man must be taking something, otherwise he would agree to Mayweather’s random drug test demands.
Khan has seen Pac-Man up close and personal, and his word – that the Filipino is clean – is good enough for me. Khan, too, I believe, is clean. But, hey, people will continue to have their own opinion on both fighters.