Amir Khan made his American debut last night, beating Paulie Malignaggi in 11 solid, convincing but unspectacular rounds, successfully defending his WBA light-welterweight title in the process.
Amir Khan: Talks a s*** game
Khan hopes to become as big in the US as he is in the UK – if not more so, for that is where the real big bucks lie. But we don’t think he quite has what it takes to become the star he wants to be. Respected, yes, box office smash, no.
Khan lacks what the truly great British fighters like ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed, Nigel ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Benn and Chris Eubank had. Namely, presence, charisma and personality. He has tried to show he has all three, but his problem is that you can see he’s trying. For the other three, it came naturally. It was who they were. They all put on a show for the boxing audience, not least Eubank, but it never looked forced. Putting on a show is what they did.
It is not what Khan does. The Bolton-born boxer is just that, a boxer, and a very, very good one at that. Instead of trying to prove he’s a star he should let his fists do the talking and remain quiet. All the so-called bad blood between him and Malignaggi in the build up to last night’s fight was proved to be no more than an attempt to sell more tickets as far as we’re concerned. They embraced after the fight and spoke in glowing terms about one another.
It could be argued that being the quiet man of boxing doesn’t get you to the top of the tree, to the big purses, to global stardom. Many will point to Welshman Joe Calzaghe as a case in point. He spent 10 years as world super-middleweight champion and remained undefeated in 46 professional fights before he retired in February 2009 but he never gained the publicity his predecessors Benn and Eubank did.
Nevertheless, one of Britain’s greatest ever boxers is rightly recognised throughout the boxing fraternity as one of the very best in his division – ever. He won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2007, no mean feat for a man the British public at large wouldn’t have heard of through most of his reign as world champion. Calzaghe went about his his job quietly and professionally and earned the respect of everyone who knew him, including his 46 defeated opponents. In the end, the money and fame came his way, but late on – and perhaps that is the best way anyway.
Kahn, at just 23, is no doubt struggling with the success he has enjoyed and wants more. But he’d do well to look at the likes of Calzaghe and see what he can achieve in the sport rather than in the media or he risks wasting the obvious talent he has. It is to be hoped that he has someone with a sensible head on his shoulders to help keep his feet on the ground. His trainer Freddie Roach certainly isn’t it.
Perhaps moving from Frank Warren to Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy promotions – again with cracking the States in mind – is a good one. There can be few better mentors in boxing than the great De La Hoya. Time will tell. In the meantime, we’ll try to enjoy Khan’s in-ring work, rather than his frankly pathetic media work.
What do you think? Is Khan at risk of ruining his career in his attempts to look and sound the part or can he pull it all off? Let us know in the comments.
