Amir Khan: I Think It's Great To Be The Underdog

By Jake Donovan

For a boxer who’s spent his entire career with something to prove and has been written off as many times as has Amir Khan, it’s startling that he only now experiences the underdog role.

The former 140-pound titlist and current welterweight contender moves up more than a full weight class to challenge one of the game’s very best to arrive at this point. Few expect Khan to come out victorious in his challenge versus lineal middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez when they meet at a maximum catchweight at 155-pounds this Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It’s a new look for the Brit, but a role to which he’s quickly grown accustomed.

“I think it's great to be the underdog,” Khan (31-3, 19KOs) says of his new in-ring role. “This is the first fight I'm walking into as the underdog because normally I'm walking in as the favorite, and possibly a bit of pressure on you.

“This time, I'm going to be walking in as the underdog, and that way it's a time where I can prove people this is where I belong. I belong as one of the best fighters in the world, and it's going to be a great test for me.”

Khan has never been averse to facing uphill battles, as first evidenced by a worldwide audience during his run in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Tasked with carrying the weight of a nation on his back, a then-17-year old Khan proudly served as the lone representative of Great Britain’s boxing team, marching all the way to the Gold medal round. He ultimately had to settle for Olympic Silver in coming up short versus Cuba’s Mario Kindelan, who – at 33 – was nearly twice Khan’s age heading into their finals matchup.

It was the last time Khan entered a fight where the public didn’t expect him to win. What he would experience upon turning pro nearly a full year later was a boxing industry longing for him to fail.

The snickers began with his shocking 1st round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott way back in 2008, with Khan’s detractors seemingly taking glee at career shortcomings that have since come.

Eight years later, Prescott is still attempting to dine out on that one win, while Khan – who went on to become a unified super lightweight titlist – enters the biggest fight of his career.

There have been pitfalls along the way, though – fortunately for Khan – coming in bunches. Two of his three career losses were suffered in succession, as he dropped a hotly contested decision to Lamont Peterson in his opponent’s Washington D.C. hometown in Dec. ’11, followed by a knockout loss to Danny Garcia in their July ’12 unification clash in Las Vegas.

The loss to Peterson was mired in controversy, both on site and in the aftermath. The bout was poorly officiated by Joseph C. Cooper – who remains a mediocre referee – which resulted in Khan being docked two points for pushing, providing the difference between a unanimous decision win and the eventual split decision defeat he was dealt.

Not all was lost for Khan, who was given back one of his belts lost that night due to random drug testing results which ultimately killed their planned rematch the following May. Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone, which he acknowledged taking – for what he thought was part of a medical treatment plan and not for anything illegal – as far back as Oct. ’11, two months before their aforementioned fight.

Unfortunately for Khan, the renewed title status didn’t last long. He was boxing well versus Danny Garcia until his greatest in-ring liability – his chin – gave in, suffering three knockdowns in the 3rd and 4th round of their July ’12 unification clash.

Five wins have followed, but restored respect has been his most elusive foe – well, alongside Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Khan has pursued superfights with both for the past several years, the closest to landing a fight either coming in his bridesmaid role on a May ’14 Pay-Per-Event topped by the first of Mayweather’s pair of wins over Marcos Maidana.

It was a hurtful reminder of the opportunity lost for Khan, who beat the free-swinging Argentine in a Dec. ’10 thriller. He also passed on a Dec. ’13 title fight opportunity with then-welterweight titlist Devon Alexander, of the belief that he was guaranteed next dibs at Mayweather – who was coming off of a Sept. ’13 win over Alvarez in what at the time was the richest fight in boxing history.

Mayweather instead strung Khan – and the boxing public – along before landing on Maidana, who had just become the first to hang a loss on the career of Adrien Broner.

Khan was once again in the mix for Mayweather’s planned ring appearance last May. His name was at the top of the list of alternate selections in the event that Mayweather-Pacquiao – a super fight more than five years in the making – didn’t materialize, as had been the case since 2009.

He even took the necessary precautions to remain active heading in, this time accepting assignment versus Alexander, whom he soundly outpointed in their Dec. ’14 meet.

So of course, Mayweather-Pacquiao finally happened.

Just one fight has since followed for Khan, a 12-round win over Chris Algieri last May. It will be 49 weeks between fights by the time he gets into the ring with Alvarez, a fight in which he not only pursued, but did so knowing he’d be coming off of a long layoff and would have to move up more than a full weight class.

The dream for Khan has always to prove that he belongs with the all-time greats. With that came what he felt was a necessary risk towards achieving that goal.

“Boxing really is a sport, but at the end of the day you've got ?? it's a sport that you need skill, I think, and you need to have a big heart,” notes Khan, whose ring courage can never objectively be questioned. “There's a lot of fights out there that don't happen because a lot of fighters don't basically have the balls to take the fights on.

“I think with this fight, me taking this fight, I hope it inspires other fighters out there and other professionals to take big fights in their boxing career, and if you want to be remembered as a great fighter, you need to take big fights like this.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2