By Richard Wink: Amir Khan returns to Manchester’s M.E.N. Arena for the third time since his unexpected defeat to Breidis Prescott back in 2008; this time around he defends his WBA Light Welterweight Title against the undefeated Paul McCloskey. Despite establishing himself as a World Champion and most recently defeating the hard hitting Marcos Maidana in one of the fights of 2010; Khan amazingly still has the spectre of the Prescott loss hanging over him.
As soon as it was announced that Khan would be fighting in April, many names were given as potential opponents. One of the loudest names shouted was that of Breidis Prescott, with most of the hollering coming from the man himself. A fight with Prescott would’ve certainly been ideal for Khan, but it can be suggested that perhaps now Khan is fighting above Prescott’s current level, what with the Colombian losing two fights on the bounce to Kevin Mitchell and Miguel Vazquez, whilst Khan’s star continues to shine.
By fighting Prescott Khan would be once again putting a lot on the line. Many British boxing fans still have vivid memories of Khan getting smashed to the floor for the second time with a lethal left in devastatingly brutal fashion, the sight of Khan struggling against the count showed signs of heart that would help him in the future, however the psychological scars were deeply ingrained. It’s entirely possible that a second defeat against Prescott could destroy Khan’s career and potentially his future legacy.
Consider just how much Khan has evolved as a fighter under the guidance of Freddie Roach since that first defeat. Would the Khan of today be as stunned by the first jab that Prescott landed on that fateful day in September? After taking most of what Marcos Maidana could throw at him; you’d probably answer that question with a resounding ‘no’.
Khan has stated he is open to the idea of a rematch with Prescott, in a recent interview with Dan Rafael he made a ‘promise’ that the fight would one day happen. He’s even suggested that the reason why he isn’t fighting Prescott sooner was in order to let the Columbian build up his confidence with a few ones. This doesn’t sound sensible, in fact that sounds incredibly stupid. What is concerning for most fight fans is that this is the talk of a man who knows he probably won’t be facing the Columbian even if he does clean up the Light Welterweight division.
In my opinion you shouldn’t hold off these things. Lennox Lewis suffered two notable defeats to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, but emphatically set the record straight in both return bouts. Rahman’s shock KO in particular posed many question marks against Lewis’ name. The mark of a great Champion is how they respond to setbacks, and Lewis responded magnificently. Now retired, people don’t talk about the losses that blighted Lewis’ record, because they were corrected when the needed to be.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Amir Khan had avenged a memorable defeat. His Olympic defeat to the legendary Cuban Amateur Mario Kindelan was followed up with a specially arranged contest at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium, with Khan coming out the victor. The gimmicky Night (which only rivaled Ivan Campo’s hair in the most ridiculous thing to be showcased at the Reebok Stadium) may not have meant that much as a consolation for Khan, however mentally it helped to rebuild any confidence he may have lost in Athens.
Fighting McCloskey is a tune up for Khan’s likely meeting with Timothy Bradley, yet for all the Irishman’s attributes, an agile easy on the eye style highlighted by a solid southpaw jab. Khan’s speed and class should be more than enough. If he blows McCloskey away like he did Dmitriy Salita then we will have learnt nothing, Khan himself would be proud of doing a professional job, in the same way that David Haye was happy about professionally finishing off Audley Harrison. Now, imagine if Khan avenged his loss to Prescott. What a boost that would be – the monkey off his back, the doubts out of his mind. He’d be going into Timothy Bradley on a real tear.
As it stands Breidis Prescott just needs to fight a few journeymen and tomato cans, put together those ‘W’s’. Then if Khan fancies it, after winning his homecoming and taking out ‘Desert Storm’ then we might just see the oddest most anticipated rematch in boxing take place.