"Khan would be down for longer than 13 seconds if I hit him" by Kevin Taylor Jul 17th 2007

British champion Jon Thaxton has continued the war of words between himself and Amir Khan regarding the Bolton man's claims that he is the best lightweight in Britain. "Khan has been calling me out and claiming to be the best in Britain, if he wants the fight I'm ready. My promoter Mick Hennessy is happy for the fight to happen on a Sports Network show, let's forget about the politics and let the best fight each other," said the likeable Thaxton from his Norwich home. "At twenty years old, Khan is a fantastic prospect, but keep him as a prospect, one minute Barry McGuigan is calling him the best in Britain, and next he is saying he is a 'work in progress'. He is a work in progress, to be the best you need to have patience, work hard, be humble and learn not to disrespect your opponents. "There is talk that Khan will fight Graham Earl next and go down the WBU route, I'd say forget that and go down the conventional route, I won the WBF world title but it didn't make me a world champion it was just a belt round my middle, the same as the WBU will be for Khan, if he wins the WBU he will not be the best in the world, he will just be fooling the public". Today Willie Limond has claimed that Khan was down for longer than ten seconds, Thaxton wasn't sure if this was the case or not. "I'm not sure if it was a long count, when he got up he seemed to be badly hurt, I like Limond as a fighter and he's reliable, but he hasn't got my punch. If I had hit Khan on the whiskers maybe he would have been down for longer than thirteen seconds. "On the positive side he did well to get up and come back to win just two rounds later, on the negative side he went down against Limond who is not known as a puncher. "Khan says he wants the fight and he says he has my number, if he has then all he has to do is call me and we can arrange the fight. I'm sure Khan wants the fight but does Frank Warren? "The British title is a prestigious belt and I wish I had gone for the title earlier in my career now, but now I have my hands on the belt I am reaping the rewards. I've never ducked anyone and I will honour my commitments as British champion whoever they make the mandatory challenger. "My career has been put on hold, with firstly Limond and then Graham Earl pulling out of fights with me after they had been made mandatory challengers to my belt, if they make Khan number one contender, and he deserves to be that, the fight should be made to see who is best in Britain and surely Sports Network have got to deliver the fight for ITV. “I'm always fit and ready to fight, I'll probably be out again in October, but if the call comes to fight before then I'll be ready, willing and able.”

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Make it happen Jul 25th 2007, 17:59:35 by icenione Come on Frank Warren, make this fight happen, it will be a huge draw, especially if held in the fine city, surely Jono deserves this after all he has achieved in his career. Personally I can't see it happening for a while as I agree with Jono's comments and believe Khan would get knocked down and beat. Perhaps if the public and the media would get behind this campaign it might just happen before Jon's 'hair' goes grey.....