Amir Khan needs to take his first defeat on the chin

You get some idea what sort of shock Amir Khan's knockout loss to Breidis Prescott was when you consider that the arena was already booked for his next fight. Khan has always had his eye on the long-term view, what is needed now is some short-term planning.

My personal review of the Monday morning papers began with the Racing Post. Crushed Khan 6-4 Still To Rule World read their back page headline, reflecting the fact that Ladbrokes is now offering that price for Khan to become a world champion at any time, while William Hills was now offering 6-1 that Khan will become a world champion in 2009.

The problem with the first bet is that your betting slip could end up becoming a family heirloom - you might be better served putting your money in a high-interest savings account. However, having listened to Amir on Sky Sports News yesterday, you could be tempted to rush down to Hills to cash in. I'm paraphrasing , but Khan was essentially saying: "This time next year I'll be a world champion." He could have been quoting Del Boy Trotter.

The problem is that Khan, like Audley Harrison, has lacked a short-term view. The eyes have always been too much on the ultimate prize rather than thinking of all the things that have to be done to get there. The opponents are trying to win too, they are not just extras in a highlight reel, and becoming a world champion is still a difficult thing. Sunday was not a day to talk about timetables for world titles, Sunday was a day to have your humble pie and eat it.

At 21, I have little doubt that Khan can still make it, but whether he actually will is another matter. What Khan needs now is to step out of the spotlight, spend some months in the gym with some decent sparring partners working on his defence and then ease his way back with a few confidence-building wins, maybe stepping back down to try and win the British title. Will that happen? Of course not.

Unfortunately Khan is big business. Having just signed a new long-term deal with Frank Warren (and Sky) there is a need to put bums on seats. His next fight - planned for December 6 in Birmingham - will be even more pressure packed than this one.

And sadly, as shown by his comments on Sunday, he is still just thinking about being a world champion, just like when he was an 18-year-old going pro. By his timetable, being a world champion in 12 months would have meant this defeat will only have put his plans back about four months. It is unlikely even if he had kept on winning in spectacular style that he would have got a world title shot until May or June next year. With lightweight currently the hottest division in boxing, maybe he should be hoping for some of the big names to knock each other over before worrying about the Pacquiaos, Campbells, Diazs, Casamayors and Guzmans.

Then there is the question of his chin. Before Saturday, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Against Craig Watson and Willie Limond, he was caught but recovered well, against Rachid Drilzane, he tripped over the bottom rope, against Michael Gomez he was off balance. But this one is tougher to excuse, one left hook on the temple had him in a mess. Maybe he was just caught cold - let's hope so.

Comments

[Rob]

Amir Khan and his people need to face up his fatal flaws.

He has a weak chin, the evidence has been there all along - The way he nearly came apart against the Limond being exhibit A. Alarms bells were ringing.

Khan is excellent offensively but hes not a natural at defense. Perhaps he wanted to please against Prescott, and he rushed in. While this can be improved - Khan now has to contend will the fact that every decent fighter he gets in will know that, no matter what, they can knock him out.

The public perception of him has suffered a backlash too. The gap between the supposedly assured world title shot and the actual reality of the performances was too much before.

A dodgy chin and leaky defense are always going to be found out at world level. I dont think he will be the same fighter after this.

Though he may get a title shot (at one of the lesser champions) because he is a money maker, and he may win, he will never remain long at top level - chins cannot be improved and his is simply too fragile to compete with the best.

There is money to be made in his doomed rehabilitation. But he will come apart again.

[Nick Halpin]

Good article: The top 10 Lightweghts in the world at the moment are all late 20's / 30's, and although you cannot avoid being hit in this game, if he waits long enough, this vintage crop of Lightweights will surely have gotten so old or will have even retired, that he could probably win one of the lesser belts, but there's always his nemesis in the background (weak chin). I personally doubt that Khan's good enough in the end. Bad management hasn't helped his development.(Frank).

[Essa]

Youre a good fighter, this loss will just make you come back twice as stronger and i think you will have the title, maybe a little longer than you proposed however you have achieved what no other 21 year old today can boast about. Keep up the good work

[alexjenson]

I sincerely hope that Khan makes some posters here eat their comments. Yes, he has a suspect chin, does that spell the end? Not necessarily. He needs to be more mobile and use his speed to move in and out...he's a boxer, not a fighter. If he cracks his defensive problems and sits back more instead of rushing in to please the crowd, he can surely rebuild his career. May not be a world champ, but he has the skills to ram some of these negative, arrogant comments right back down the throats of those who made them. Good luck Amir.

[Mo]

amir khan needs to learn from this. all good fighters lose an occasional fight. He needs to work on his defence and footwork and stop thinking about becoming world champion. Instead get the basics right and if he is good enough he will become world champion.

[All4Data]

Some of the comments here are level headed and good to read.

Khan must realise his frailties and learn to box his opponents.

Stepping into punches with a glass jaw is not intelligent, learning to fight from the outside and always on the move is his best bet, he has the hand speed however he will need to work on the legs to carry him and to move him in all different directions.

Its a strong learning curve

[paul white]

amir khan ha? anyone can say whatever they want, khan is a joke, a terrible loss to a fighter ranked much much lower than himself....and khan thinks that he could fight ricky hatton, your fights are handpicked and forget bout it son, u will never ever be a world champion

[Gary]

Get your bum back in the gym, there's so much wrong at the moment I don't know where to begin...Your left side's too open, your guard is woefully low and you don't seem to have the reactions to carry that off. You're looking a little two dimentional and that points to your footwork being wrong. Listen very carefully to your trainers as these faults have been obvious for a while and if this idiot has noticed then your team has to have been aware of them; if not then change your team. Good luck, son and stop looking for wars you are definitely not that sort of fighter.

[James Mac]

Khan needs to get away from Britain for a bit. He has just become too famous and the boxing has become secondary

[kal]

He got knocked down with some good punches but he should of taken them. It's simple, he just can't take a punch. He can give it but that's not good enough in this game at world class level

It is quite clear that khan was defintely out of his depth on this fight, poor defence structure and the timing, accuracy and power from prescott was spot on. Khan's previous fights were against people he knew he could beat. A big learning curve for him here. Attack is only one half of the art of boxing.

[G]

Ha Ha hilarious! There aren't many on here that have a clue! Khan has been over-hyped and over-protected. He is simply not good enough. Decked by Limond, decked by Gomez and knocked out cold against Prescott. He should start looking at other careers. Goodbye Khan.

[dan]

I'd get rid of Warren if I were Khan. He might make a few quid in the short term but if he doesn't take a reality check and step back he will be in no fit state to enjoy it. He took some sickening blows to the head on Saturday and showed to the world that he is out of his depth at the moment. His defence is very poor, his feet are wrong his chin too high and his hands keep dropping. He is intent on blasting opponents away with his power and speed which is awesome but without the basic skills to back up the natural talents he will take beatings. The damage done on Saturday will have been more to his pride than his brain due to the fact that he was caught cold but if he continues to look for wars he is going to get into trouble. He is a decent guy but his head has been turned by Warren.

[Trixie]

Take your time and plan well ahead..have a chat with Oliver..he got you through before. I am a great fan but believe if you listen and learn and take your time you will get there. Style is more than what you do in the ring..GOOD LUCK!

[Dave]

it's brutally simple Breidis Prescott is a better fighter

[Mohammed Ibrar]

Amir will come stronger than before because he has felt defeat and no what it is like. I don't think he should sack his cuban coach. If your next fight is in Birmingham, i will be there to watch and support you. It might take a bit more time now but you will definitely be a world champion. Best wishes for your fights, from a big fan.

[Chris]

I used to follow your career on ITV Amir but not now as it costs £15 to watch you on Sky.

Your TV series about the young lads was inspirational and God will repay your good work.

You are a great fighter. But maybe need to box a bit more from the classical textbook like Joe, more defensive and in for the long haul, not going for the big one? I am no expert but I do watch boxing and that's my impression; hope it helps.

Best wishes for the future from a big fan.

[Tam T]

As the old saying goes: you can't put muscles on your chin. Everyone Khan faces now is going to come out swinging, it is only a matter of time before it happens again

[Jimbo]

You can't blame a trainer for when a shot hits it puts you down, that's down to your head, The trainer could be blamed for how he works Amir's defence, and then again does Amir listen. He is trying to go places too fast. maybe he needs a good psychologist sometimes a lot of things are in the mind. I hope he makes it but he has gone down too many times to soon.

[Jim]

What I worry about with regards to young Amir is that when Frank Warren was questioned immediately after the fight about what had gone wrong, he blamed the trainer. When asked if this had been the right fight for Amir, he said something along the lines of "we took the advice of the new (Cuban trainer). Well excuse me for being a bit thick here, but isn't the trainer meant to TRAIN the fighter and the manager to advise and arrange fights. I foresee trouble in the Khan camp. Amir, good luck to you, if you can come back from this, you'll have the makings of a true champ. Dump Warren.

Amir Khan is gonna came back stronger then before as long as he sacks his new coach. he didn't lose b4 he got this new coach. da coach should have know that Khan should have hade a few more fight b4 Prescott