NEW SENSATION AMIR KHAN
If the makers of reality TV decide they should
produce another of their survival shows, they want to
get straight on the phone to Amir Khan’s last victim.
David Bailey may have been humiliated in 109 seconds
against Khan, but that only tells half the story.
In the first 40 seconds he managed to fall over twice
and even have his corner throw in the towel. In that
context, taking it to almost two minutes should be
recognised with some kind of medal for gallantry Khan’s
defeat of the hapless and helpless Bailey was wholly
predictable, the manner of it even more so.
But what exactly did we witness at Bolton last
Saturday? Was it the birth of a boxing superstar’s
career?
Or was it just a victory for hype?
There is no doubt that Khan is a rare talent, one
equipped to win an Olympic boxing medal at the tender
age of 17. (There is also the danger he maybe reading
this).
But boxing is littered with Olympic medallists who
failed miserably to fulfil their baton has passed to the
light welters. We have IBF champ Ricky Hatton (below),
simply magnificent in sending Kostya Tszyu into
retirement last month.
Then there’s Floyd Mayweather, holder of the WBC title
and billed as the best pound for pound fighter on the
planet. And the WBO’s Miguel Cotto, the man who, for
many, comes second on that list. Carlos Maussa (WBA) is
by some distance the most limited of the four world
champions, but even he had enough about him to destroy
the excellent Vivian Harris in seven rounds in June.
So where does that leave Khan?
Well, it leaves him with ground to make up, especially
if he is to justify William Hill’s quote of 7-2 that he
will hold one of the four main belts by the end of 2007.
Even Ladbrokes’ offer of 3-1 that he has achieved it by
the end of 2008 holds no appeal.
Not every long-term bet is worth dismissing out of hand
(check out Hill’s 6-4 that Tiger Woods passes Jack
Nicklaus’s record haul of 18 Majors).
But Khan? There’s every reason to suspect he will be a
world champ at some point in the future, but within two
years? Three?
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