By Corey Erdman
AIBA's plan to allow professional boxers to compete in the Olympic games has been met with plenty of detractors, but it can count one of the sport's biggest stars as a supporter.
Amir Khan reiterated his interest in a possible return to the Olympics on a conference call to promote his May 7 middleweight title bout against Canelo Alvarez.
Khan has previously issued support for AIBA on the ruling, and doubled down in saying that he'd love to add a gold medal to the silver medal he took him in 2004.
“It's something I'd maybe love to maybe enter because me winning a silver medal, I want to turn that into a gold medal,” said Khan.
Naturally, it would be a massive transition back to the amateur style Khan has worked long and hard to grow out of. The former world champion is now used to pacing himself over 12 rounds, with a focus on landing telling blows over the course of a long fight.
That said, if any fighter would be equipped to hop back into a an abbreviated fight often predicated on quickness, it would be the fast-handed Khan.
“It'd be a little different because you're only fighting three rounds, but the minutes of the rounds are going to be the same,” said Khan. “I watched the guys who were fighting at my weight category, and I was watching like, I could still beat these guys. Even having the same workrate and everything.”
Khan does recognize the inherent risk for established pros taking a “step back,” so to speak. As much prestige as an Olympic medal may come with, the damage a loss to an amateur would do to their reputation could be even greater. Not to mention, the prospect of turning down substantial paydays for the meager sums even the top Olympians often collect might not seem all that appealing.
But for Khan, who based on his decision to move up two weight classes to face Alvarez is unafraid of risk when it comes to chasing glory, those might not be enough of a deterrent.
“It could work and it could not work. It just might be too much of a big risk for these professional champions to go into,” said Khan. “Maybe, I would consider it.”
