Letter from Amir to his fans, and Oliver Harrison's View

[TerribleTerry]

2I've had lots of messages from boxers including footballers"

Nice of Curtis to drop him a line.

Personally I saw Abonglahor (diiirty villa) and David Dunn (ex Blues) there to support Matt Macklin - there will have been a good few more ringside I would have thought. Quite a few Wanderers fans there to support their man too..

[charlieb]

Double post.

[charlieb]

No, but he's never fought someone who hits as hard as Prescott does (relatively speaking). He has, however, done the chicken dance against a blown-up super-middleweight, as well as being put on queer street by a Momeck right with little on it, I've watched Mormeck since his light-heavy days and he isn't a puncher. Starched by Jim Twite and if you believe half the sparring rumours that have done the rounds, he's been put over numerous times behind closed doors.

Also whether you say Enzo froze on not, his punching power cannot be questioned but he couldn't get near to laying a glove on Haye, you cannot hit what is not in front of you and how can people keep writing Haye off before he actually fights a decent heavyweight ?

Haye was entirely aware of what was in front of him and he boxed EXTREMELY cautiously until an opening arrived. Khan didn't, he rushed in.

Who's writing Haye off? I think Haye's a credit to the sport and one of my favourite fighters to boot ... I'm trying to say - what's good for the goose, is good for the gander. I'm not going to write Khan off based on a bad loss.

[johnswan1]

Where are all his support people gone? There are enough of them - surely one could act as editor to correct the most basic of grammer and spelling mistakes made repeatedly? He is right - he did prove the critics to be correct about him. I watched a build up show on Sky last week and Amir was showing how he carries around pre-signed business cards with him to hand out to all the kids on the street who love him. At least Naz could back up his arrogance in the ring for most of his career - Khan could not, and I was very happy to see him knocked out so brutally and so early. This may sound harsh but he appears to be ok now physically which is a good thing but he got what he deserved IMHO.

[mark thompson]

Who's writing Haye off? I think Haye's a credit to the sport and one of my favourite fighters to boot ... I'm trying to say - what's good for the goose, is good for the gander. I'm not going to write Khan off based on a bad loss.

you cant even compare Haye's loss to Thompson, with Khans loss to Prescott surely ????

[Pugilist-specialist]

Harrison is spot on , Brendan and Dominic would do wonders for Khan.
But Khan would probably not be prepared to travel to Sheffield and be treated the same as everyone else (i.e. no star treatment).
In the meantime expect Kell Brook to start to improve again now he is re-united with the gym he was at from 9 years old

[banjo]

Who's writing Haye off? I think Haye's a credit to the sport and one of my favourite fighters to boot ... I'm trying to say - what's good for the goose, is good for the gander. I'm not going to write Khan off based on a bad loss.

you cant even compare Haye's loss to Thompson, with Khans loss to Prescott surely ????

I agree, Thompson may have been past his best but he's one tough bastard and very experienced having been in with top fighters.

[charlieb]

Who's writing Haye off? I think Haye's a credit to the sport and one of my favourite fighters to boot ... I'm trying to say - what's good for the goose, is good for the gander. I'm not going to write Khan off based on a bad loss.

you cant even compare Haye's loss to Thompson, with Khans loss to Prescott surely ????

Not in the manner it happened, but in the sense that there's the potential for a hard lesson to be learnt, or not ... both are chinny and Haye's shown he can compensate by fighting with focus, patience and smarts to go along with the tremendous offence we already knew he had.

Who knows though.

[twenty six]

Pugilist,
Khan has defensive frailties I think that's universally accepted.
What exactly do you think Wincobank can do to improve that ?
The whole ethos of the gym is defence by reaction.
Let me make it abundantly clear, I love the place, but you have to be a certain type of fighter to adapt to their way of doing things, and I just don't see Khan as that type of fighter. That's why the best fighters at Wincobank are those that started in their early years, age wise, and learnt the skills that Wincobank is famous for.
I think you're being a little harsh to certain people with your comment about Kel.
At his time at Wincobank he never fulfilled his potential and often went off the tracks.
OK he's back now, but in the intervening time he's become a British Champion, and looked far more focused and dedicated than before.
Your post infers he went backwards with Coldwell. Far from it, a comment I'm sure Kel will endorse.
I really hope Kel pushes on now. With the dearth of talent around, he has a major chance.

[observer1]

I think This Loss Could be a blessing i disguise for Khan. Khan was getting really sloppy with his defense, and was often Rushing to beat his opponenet, causing massive lapses of defense against his opponenets. (Refering to fights against Limond and Gomez). Sooner or later, he was going to get Caught Flish and be KO'd. This happened to be Prescott, and Unfortunatley for Khan, it happened in the first Round.

Khan certainly has the speed to make up for his Chin. Like Harrison said: He is the type of fighter to move and slip around.

Khan is not someone who should be trading punches, he should be slipping Side to Side and moving around more utilizing his Hand speed like he did in his early days.

Whatever the Situation is with his Trainer, "Team Khan" etc. We will probably never know the accurate Version. But Khan needs to sort this out ASAP.

Frankly, imo, i feel Khan can make it as a World Champ, but he needs to revamp himself. IN and OUT of the ring

[charlieb]

For those who haven't seen it ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7605059.stm

[Chambers2]

Amir Khan proved that Muslims don't drink when he failed to get a round in on Saturday

[Asterix]

For those who haven't seen it ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7605059.stm

Thanks. He confirmed that he had only seen the Prescott vs Abril fight.

[1southpaw]

at the end of the day khans own family will ruin him by getting invovled in a sport they know nothing about

[Mowgli]

Khan has all the skill and speed in the World,but he is so easy to draw into a fight,as soon as someone lands cleanly his bravado comes to the fore,and he wants to mix it with them,i'd like to see him come back better,but i'm not certain he can. :(

[Chambers2]

For those who haven't seen it ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7605059.stm

Thats a Full Boar 100% Amir Khan charm offensive!!! It's what he has to do, but he was laying it on abit thick in parts. Here are my highlights

and I quote

"I was fighting the biggest puncher in the Whole Lightweight division in the World" - Katsidis and Romanov (to name a few) might dispute that

"People were telling me don't fight Prescott, because you're both on your ways to world title fights" - Amir by your own admissions, you'd only seen 1 fight of him in which he'd underperformed and 'had a bad night', so how did your advisors come to the conclusion that Prescott was on his way to a world title fight?

"It was because e caught me cold in the first round, if it would have happened in the 5th or 6th I'd have been OK" - that sounds like abit of Enzo Calzaghe logic to me, if Enzo Vs Haye went 12 rounds Haye would have been obliterated
"50 seconds in a fight is so short, it could have been me knocking him out"

"This guy was a Great fighter" - Amir, you've only seen 1 fight of him (well you've now seen 1 fight and 51 seconds of him) in which he underperformed and although he looked pretty good in the other 51 seconds, basing the fact that he is a 'Great fighter' because he knocked you out is quite egotistical IMO

[deadpan]

Good observations.

I liked his talk of "getting BACK to the top".

That's positively Audeleyesque.

[History]

I think he comes across as a decent enough lad in that BBC interview, and he is still only young. No-one's at their most mature at 21 years old. If he lets allegedly/Dean Powell control his match making from now on, he could still go on to win some version of the world title, and good luck to him. With that suspect chin, and his speed and offensive skills, he could be in some exciting little fights in years to come.

(I was going to reply to his post on the fans forum with 'Chin up, Amir', but in the cirumstances, it probably isn't the right turn of phrase).

[Happy Slapper]

For those who haven't seen it ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7605059.stm

Thats a Full Boar 100% Amir Khan charm offensive!!! It's what he has to do, but he was laying it on abit thick in parts. Here are my highlights

and I quote

"I was fighting the biggest puncher in the Whole Lightweight division in the World" - Katsidis and Romanov (to name a few) might dispute that

"People were telling me don't fight Prescott, because you're both on your ways to world title fights" - Amir by your own admissions, you'd only seen 1 fight of him in which he'd underperformed and 'had a bad night', so how did your advisors come to the conclusion that Prescott was on his way to a world title fight?

"It was because e caught me cold in the first round, if it would have happened in the 5th or 6th I'd have been OK" - that sounds like abit of Enzo Calzaghe logic to me, if Enzo Vs Haye went 12 rounds Haye would have been obliterated
"50 seconds in a fight is so short, it could have been me knocking him out"

"This guy was a Great fighter" - Amir, you've only seen 1 fight of him (well you've now seen 1 fight and 51 seconds of him) in which he underperformed and although he looked pretty good in the other 51 seconds, basing the fact that he is a 'Great fighter' because he knocked you out is quite egotistical IMO

Give him a break, what's he meant to say "yeah I got knocked out, I'm rubbish and I'm going to call it a day"

I hope he does come back stronger and agree with some of what he's saying but it isn't going to be easy for him. He needs to take a couple of easy ones to get his confidence back then push on against a Murray or a Thaxton.

Defensively he needs major work and his chin is suspect but Haye's chin is suspect and he went on to rule his division.

What he doesn't need is 15+ fights of the same type of opponents he's fought in his career so far because that prepares him for nothing and serves only to make Warren rich. He needs to fight genuine lightweights who will give him a test and can bang a bit (but not too much).

I say Good luck Amir.

[observer1]

For those who haven't seen it ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7605059.stm

Thats a Full Boar 100% Amir Khan charm offensive!!! It's what he has to do, but he was laying it on abit thick in parts. Here are my highlights

and I quote

"I was fighting the biggest puncher in the Whole Lightweight division in the World" - Katsidis and Romanov (to name a few) might dispute that

"People were telling me don't fight Prescott, because you're both on your ways to world title fights" - Amir by your own admissions, you'd only seen 1 fight of him in which he'd underperformed and 'had a bad night', so how did your advisors come to the conclusion that Prescott was on his way to a world title fight?

"It was because e caught me cold in the first round, if it would have happened in the 5th or 6th I'd have been OK" - that sounds like abit of Enzo Calzaghe logic to me, if Enzo Vs Haye went 12 rounds Haye would have been obliterated
"50 seconds in a fight is so short, it could have been me knocking him out"

"This guy was a Great fighter" - Amir, you've only seen 1 fight of him (well you've now seen 1 fight and 51 seconds of him) in which he underperformed and although he looked pretty good in the other 51 seconds, basing the fact that he is a 'Great fighter' because he knocked you out is quite egotistical IMO

Give him a break, what's he meant to say "yeah I got knocked out, I'm rubbish and I'm going to call it a day"

I hope he does come back stronger and agree with some of what he's saying but it isn't going to be easy for him. He needs to take a couple of easy ones to get his confidence back then push on against a Murray or a Thaxton.

Defensively he needs major work and his chin is suspect but Haye's chin is suspect and he went on to rule his division.

What he doesn't need is 15+ fights of the same type of opponents he's fought in his career so far because that prepares him for nothing and serves only to make Warren rich. He needs to fight genuine lightweights who will give him a test and can bang a bit (but not too much).

I say Good luck Amir.

Well said.

It takes courage to make an interview right after losing by KO, Especially in the first Round.

Seriously, some of you so called Boxing Fans are disgraceful at times. Nothing wrong with criticism, but some of you are blatatly taking the Biscuit out of the lad.

[Arbachakov]

Wincobank would be a disaster.

The last thing Khan needs is to be moving around with his hands by his waist pulling his head straight back from punches.

[JamesH]

No, but he's never fought someone who hits as hard as Prescott does (relatively speaking). He has, however, done the chicken dance against a blown-up super-middleweight, as well as being put on queer street by a Momeck right with little on it, I've watched Mormeck since his light-heavy days and he isn't a puncher. Starched by Jim Twite and if you believe half the sparring rumours that have done the rounds, he's been put over numerous times behind closed doors.

The shots that Khan got up from would have KO'd most top lightweights out there, who knows how hard Prescott hits. Perhaps if Haye had've fought the likes of Bell we'd have seen how well he could have coped with a real puncher, the only natural puncher he ever fought was a petrified Enzo.

Haye has fought whoever he has needed to and ended up as the undisputed king of his (then) division as a result. Bigger punchers await him in the heavyweight division but providing he maintains the focus he kept during ever extending months and months of the Mormeck training camp, I think he's got an excellent chance of winning the world title at heavy - despite the suspect chin.

As much I'd like to see it, Im not so sure about Khans ability to win a genuine world title at lightweight or light-welter.

For me, Haye has to be respected for conquering world level while Amir hasnt conquered the punchers of his domestic division.

[Pugilist-specialist]

[quote="twenty six"] That's why the best fighters at Wincobank are those that started in their early years, age wise, and learnt the skills that Wincobank is famous for.
I think you're being a little harsh to certain people with your comment about Kel.
At his time at Wincobank he never fulfilled his potential and often went off the tracks./quote]


Witter was 22 years old with no great amateur pedigree, went on to be a world champion.
Johanneson went late in his career and became British champion.


Brook won plenty of titles in the ams, boxed for England and ripped through his early pro fights - not fulfilling his potential ?

[emma]

Harrison is spot on , Brendan and Dominic would do wonders for Khan.
But Khan would probably not be prepared to travel to Sheffield and be treated the same as everyone else (i.e. no star treatment).
In the meantime expect Kell Brook to start to improve again now he is re-united with the gym he was at from 9 years old

There is NOWAY amir would go to wincobank. Khans got his own gym so if he did want the Ingles to train him he would want them to go to HIS gym and I couldnt see that happening.

[Gray-Fox]

I laugh at all of this speculation. The man got exposed as what he was. It won't be the first time he's KOed either.