The Golden Egg is scrambled - the Amir Khan post-mortem by British Boxing Sep 8th 2008

Five BBN writers offer their thoughts on the astonishing 54-second destruction of British boxing's golden boy, Amir Khan. Ian McNeilly Go on then, I might as well have my twopenneth. I didn't do the first P of PPV. I wasn't particularly bothered about the V either. I did it the old-fashioned way. BBC Radio. Well, BBC radio through my digital telly which is akin to playing a converted 78” long player through an I-Pod. It was, in short (what else could it be?) absolutely fantastic. Mike Costello is one of the best out there in the shrinking world of boxing journalism and criminally underrated. He called a fantastic fight. Didn't take him long either. Although he was calm and assured, below his tones writhed disbelief and astonishment. I shared the latter qualities. Buncey didn't give a monkey's about calm and assured. You think you've heard the big man excited? Think again. “We thought ‘they must know something – there's a reason why Prescott's got this fight'. Well, let me tell you, they knew nothing!” It wasn't schadenfreude – it was absolute incredulity. And it was exactly what I was thinking. As I said when the fight was announced, the likes of Frank Warren and Dean Powell are absolute masters of matchmaking. Some fans might not like it. But they try and do the best for their fighters. Which is why this result was so astonishing. Then we found out that the opponent wasn't chosen by either of them but by Khan's new trainer. My phone went into spasms with texts from true fight fans and those who only have a passing interest in the sport. And you know what? Every single message was from someone who was a) amazed and b) delighted. In the cold light of day, that seems cruel. But Khan (an obviously talented and seemingly nice young man) lost some of the public along the road to his eye-rotating humiliation on Saturday night. My word count is too short to dissect the potential reasons here. Some of the crowd in the curtained-off arena booed Khan on his way in. Even more booed him on his way out. Such is the enjoyment (bad taste or not) of some boxing fans in Khan's demise that several jokes are doing the rounds. What's Amir Khan's favourite film? Gone in 60 Seconds. Amir Khan's a tee-totaller and stingy to boot. He went out last Saturday and didn't even get a single round in. What's the difference between Amir Khan and a Rustler burger? About six seconds. I don't even think the downfall of Naz was greeted with such delight – and he had a very long time to get on people's nerves. Athens 2004 seems a world away right now. And it's not just Amir Khan who needs to comeback – it's Frank Warren. With Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe leaving him, the Bolton youngster was undoubtedly the jewel in his promotional crown. And Setanta Sports are after the suddenly beleagured promoter too, issuing a writ for multi-millions after Warren signed with Sky. The thing is, we all know that Warren can come back. He's done it many times before. In fact, he seems to relish a scrap. But resurrecting Khan might just be the biggest challenge of the promoter's career. Kevin Taylor Love him or loathe him, since Amir Khan arrived on the scene at the 2004 Olympics he has been like a one-man crusade to save British boxing. His career has taken him all around the country and at most venues we have seen sell out crowds roaring the youngster to victory. Newspapers seemed interested in boxing again in the past couple of years, something that has barely happened in the last decade apart from the biggest fights and ITV and Setanta have both come aboard with Sky to show boxing again. Khan made himself a national hero after losing in the Olympic final and his ascent into the professional game left many of us wondering if finally we had found the lad to bring another world title to Britain and this time keep it here for a while. As Khan's career gained the inches in tabloids and broadsheets, Britain also began to bask in its boxing once more with Calzaghe, Hatton, Haye, Woods, Witter and Rees all holding world titles of one form of another. Unfortunately the bubble had begun to go down with losses for Woods, Witter, Rees and Britain's most loved boxer this decade Ricky Hatton also going down in defeat to ‘Pretty Boy' Floyd Mayweather in the last year. Of course in Britain we are well known for loving the underdog or even the loser rather than the winners and Khan's bragging that he'd be youngest world champion ever started to fall on deaf ears after a while when time and time again non-punching smaller men were put up to face the talented Bolton boy. He blasted away opponents who were more at home in weight divisions below lightweight, and although fights with Thaxton, Romanov and Murray, who blocked his path to both British and European glory, were talked about none of these came to fruition and the boxing anoraks were beginning to mutter words of discontent. Those who dared mentioned his inability to maybe take a punch on the whiskers and called for him to be put in with a 'real live' opponent so they could find out the truth after he'd tasted the canvas against both Willie Limond and Michael Gomez. On Saturday night with Khan's first show on Sky, that they made Joe Public pay for, in the opposing corner was a Colombian by the name of Prescott. I'd never heard of him, but must admit I don't really follow that much Colombian boxing these days, in fact the only boxing Prescott I know is John and he needs to be egged on to have a fight these days. Prescott, as most do, built himself up before the fight and said he would KO Khan inside four rounds. We'd heard it all before but this time maybe there was a just an inkling that this lad could really test the old glass chin theory out, with seventeen wins inside the distance from his nineteen wins to date there was no doubting the boy could punch - the only doubts were whether he'd ever faced anyone anywhere near Khan's level. Come Saturday and once again the crowds came out to watch the Golden boy of British boxing, although it must be pointed out the MEN Arena wasn't packed to the rafters and many on internet boxing forums had ridiculed the fight being on PPV. It didn't help that the undercard which looked good on paper at one stage fell apart before the show with pullouts from injury in three or four big fights. The crowd were treated to fights from some of the local prospects with Paul Smith, his brother Stephen, Tony Bellew, Anthony Crolla and Steven Bell all featuring and winning on the undercard. In the crowd were several of our most recent Olympians who covered themselves mostly in glory from their spells in Beijing, although typically it's the negativity from the pre-Olympics that made most of the headlines. Once again they played the same old record in Audley Harrison, still claiming he will be world champion next year as he did for most of 2005, 2006 and 2007, by the time the crescendo of boos had died down, once again many chuckled at the "Yes I can" claim from Mr Harrison. Then the MEN crowd were treated to a pretty decent scrap for the WBO super-featherweight title that Alex Arthur had won by default and was defending for the first time against Nicky Cook. In fact if it hadn't have been PPV I doubt many would have complained if this had been top of the bill on a Friday fight night, in the end though Arthur was left asking for God's help and unfortunately he didn't answer the call as the belt travelled back to pie and mash country where Cook's main rival is now a team-mate who is also trained by Nicky's dad Paul (Kevin Mitchell). It was Khan they had come to see though but they only got a quick glimspe of him and a minute after the announcements had finished it was all over with Khan laying crestfallen in his own corner, with his title aspirations in tatters around him and some wondering if Britain's own boxing hopes were also lying in the ruins. Will Hale 'Amir Khan's on PPV against who?' was my first reaction to the news that the boy from Bolton was with Sky and their fifteen quid price tag. In the run up to last night's fight, it all looked so simple, there was nothing worth either paying for or any attention to. I got it wrong. It was one of those fights where only the house fighter's face gets put on the posters and promo material. The other guy in the two-man show was hardly known to even the most diehard fight fans. Pretty normal stuff, take an unknown South American with an unbeaten record laden with early wins against opposition further down the boxing's obscure food chain and use it as proof that Khan could handle himself with a puncher. After all, Columbia has a habit of pumping out fighters with decent KO streaks, and a quick glance at the records of most of those chinned usually confirms that there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Wrong again. If Khan wasn't quite ready for a world title fight, he definitely wasn't ready for a world-class puncher. And that Breidis Prescott most definitely was. Hadn't the warning signs been there last year, when the correct but light punching Willie Limond turned Amir's legs into jelly and scrambled his senses so much that Marcus McDonnell had to remind him to get up? And again against a Gomez fighting above his natural weight earlier this year, a decent but not spectacular left hook hammered home Amir's frailties. Where is Derrick Gainer when you need him? Let's get this straight, Khan has been well-managed in his career and there is nothing wrong with that under normal circumstances. After all, this is a 21-year-old boxer learning his trade, a guy with huge potential but with considerable work to do on his boxing before he can step up. What has upset people is that they have had to listen to the pretentions of world titles in record time, when domestic punchers were being avoided and fighters either without natural weight or knockout power were being hand-picked. Hype and talk of taking on the big boys fuels expectation, and when there is a gap between this and reality, fight fans turn hero into villain quicker than you can say Audley Harrison. Khan can come back, rebuild slowly and sensibly and recover to approach his potential. It's far from the end of the world if Amir is two or three fights down the card, getting back his confidence and correcting those mistakes. Stateside shopping trips for super-trainer solutions to dodgy defences are clearly not realistic. Trust takes time to develop. There will be those logicians that say that Khan can't avoid big punchers in boxing for too long, and that the blueprint for his beating his been publicly drawn up. But considering Khan got to his feet twice and showed the heart of champion in his darkest hour, I hope they're wrong. Martin Supple If Breidis Prescott fought like a man with a bus to catch, not only did he make it, he also had chance to grab a Starbucks on the way. The Colombian, who lives in a two-room apartment with eight family members, exited the MEN Arena having wrecked Amir Khan's dream with 54 seconds of awesome punching. It was not a surprise to see Khan suffer his first defeat. The warning signs have been there since Craig Watson short-circuited him with a left hand in an amateur bout. However, to see him separated from his senses in such convincing fashion was as shocking as it gets. The pay-per-view status of this fight indicated Khan had already hit the big time, no need for a world title. In truth, that fame happened in Athens, and certainly gained crossover attention when he signed professional terms to fight live on ITV. One thing is for sure, when it comes to riches and rewards, Breidis Prescott is at the opposite end of the scale. A hungry, perhaps desperate fighter. High profile upsets happen. Seldom do they end in the first minute with the odds-on favourite staring at the stars. I have had the same open-mouthed disbelief whilst watching a fight before - Corrie Sanders' KO of Wladimir Klitschko is one which springs to mind - but not for some considerable time. Prescott's speed was surprising right from the off. Hooking off the jab, his punches were sharp, correct and had Khan's attention immediately when a straight left shook him. Prescott moved in and finished the job with impressive assurance. I can understand how referee Terry O'Connor allowed Khan to continue after the first knockdown. But Amir's legs and eyes said the fight was already over. That was confirmed as Prescott closed the show with a final left hook that landed with full force dumping Khan heavily in a corner. Mercifully, another huge right hand missed by a centimetre as Amir toppled backwards and out of range. A relatively trivial question, but was it just me who felt the full ten count was unnecessary after the second knockdown? In his 1994 KO loss to Oliver McCall, Lennox Lewis was halted by referee Guadalupe Garcia after rising from the knockdown with unsteady legs and glassy eyes. Garcia was accused by some (mainly the Lewis camp) of a premature stoppage. Looking back, Garcia could have actually saved Lewis' career. Allowing a vicious puncher like McCall at a hurt Lewis could have seen Lennox's punch resistance destroyed forever. Team Khan must hope the final punches have not damaged Amir's chin irreparably. A closer look at Prescott's record raised alarm bells. He had been ten rounds twice and had scored a late stoppage against another unbeaten fighter - Jose Feria - in the ninth. This was no novice trying to build a cosmetic KO streak. Prior to this fight, Khan had been guided so precisely and matched so carefully. To be thrown in with an unknown, dangerous hitter when possessing highly suspect whiskers was, with hindsight, amazing. High risk, low reward. No title or kudos to be gained. Where Amir Khan goes now will be a long debate. Whether his ability matches his ambition and personality is still open to question. If it is at all possible to take a positive from the loss, it is that the end came quickly and decisively. There was no prolonged beating or serious facial damage inflicted here. Unbeaten records are overrated. A loss can be a valuable learning experience. But the manner of this defeat places serious uncertainty over Khan's durability and consequently, his world-level future if he is so vulnerable. Team Khan should now proceed with fixing the problems and dispense with fixing the blame for this disaster. Fingers will point at new trainer Jorge Rubio, Frank Warren and Amir himself. Those punters availing of the 80/1 odds about a first round Prescott win will undoubtedly add the bookies to the list of people who got this one so badly wrong. Mike Lister On Saturday night in Manchester Britain's rising star Amir Khan was following in the footsteps of fellow British superstars starring on in his first PPV - something Frank Warren in particular received some harsh criticism for and some hastily arranged boycotts from angry fans on boxing website forums. A minor title fight between Britain's Olympic hero in Athens versus a fighter nobody had ever heard of however, at a rate of 27p a second? It sounds bizarre but the few fight fans who didn't boycott certainly got their money's worth. Since the fight rumours have been circulating and the blame game played - it is very rare to see an upcoming Frank Warren fighter lose and extremely rare to see one lose in such brutal fashion. The original opponent for the fight was to be Florida's Derrick Gainer, the former WBA featherweight champion who at 36 and in semi retirement and having only had four fights in the previous five years losing two of them, he dropped out and instead Khan's newly appointed trainer Jorge Rubio suggested Bredis Prescott, 25, 6ft tall and ahuge lightweight with a stellar record of 19-0 (17 ko's) albeit against limited opposition. Prescott is so poor his accommodation was sharing a room with three other fighters above the gym located in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in Colombia. This guy was literally living and breathing boxing, a far cry from the £100k BMW 6-series convertible driving ways of his opponent making this a real Rocky Baloboa vs Apollo Creed battle. It is stated that Rubio has trained with Prescott in Miami thus basing his opinion as a suitable opponent for Khan. A question - as a trainer who must have felt the power of Prescott on the pads and knowing his charge had been dropped heavily against light punching super featherweights…what was Rubio thinking? Despite Khan's insistence after the fight that Rubio will continue to train him, it will be interesting to see Frank Warren's thoughts on this.

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