By Ziggy Shah: The past few nights have been restless for WBA Light Welter Weight Champion Amir Khan, as the continuous knocking on his door has kept him awake. The man standing on his front door is Breidis Prescott who is calling the champ to another dual to decide who is the rightful man in the division.
The last time these two boxers met, Khan was carrying an Olympic Silver medal around his neck and a flame in his hand that connoted that he was the next big thing to come out of Great Britain.
But on the 6th October 2008, that flame was brutally extinguished after Prescott demolished Khan within 54 seconds of the first round.
The Colombian born Prescott, exposed the weaknesses that Khan had managed to keep under wraps in the amateur ranks but the Bolton born youngster soon discovered that fighting in the Pro ranks was a different ball game altogether.
However, now Khan, along with new trainer Freddie Roach seems to be on the road to rehabilitating himself into a future prospect once more.
His fights against Dmitriy Salita, Paul Malignaggi and Marcos Rene Maidana showed that the Olympic star had come along way under the guidance of world class trainer Freddie Roach.
His rehabilitation process since that devastating defeat has been steady, but, one feels, that it will not be complete until he avenges his one and only blemish on his statistics. It seems The physical scars from that beating of Prescott have vanished, but one senses that the mental scars inflicted by them left hooks still remain.
Whether or not Khan picks up the gauntlet thrown down by Prescott is questionable, and the decision will be one that Roach will think about very carefully too. Roach will send his fighter into this battle, not on a question on Khan’s physical ability but on the strength of Khan’s mental ability to wipe out the demons that so harshly reminded him that in the sport of boxing nothing is predictable.
“Mental toughness is as important as physical attributes, indeed it has been suggested that at the highest level that ‘the essential extra element is mental toughness.'” …Faulkner.
Many of Khan’s supporters are wary and want their man to tackle Bradley (if it can be made) and possibly fight Prescott further down the road. But the sooner Khan steps back in the ring with Prescott, the better it will be for both him and his credentials as a possible world class fighter. There is no running in the sport of boxing and Khan has to be prepared to take on his nemesis and prove to the world that he has heart and is willing to take risks. But is he prepared mentally to tackle a man who dismantled him so easily in their first encounter? Well that is a question only Amir Khan can answer.