Veteran trainer Dave Coldwell, who works with fighters such as Tony Bellew, believes former world champion Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) is destroying his whole career.
Khan has been inactive since May of 2016, when he jumped up to a catch-weight of 155-pounds to challenge then middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. The Bolton boxer was brutally knocked out in the sixth round.
Since then, he underwent surgery on his hand and needed a few months of rehabilitation - but other than that his career has been on pause.
He feels Khan has an overblown sense of worth.
Coldwell believes Khan missed a huge opportunity to do a domestic fight with Sheffield rival Kell Brook. Khan has repeatedly turned down a contest with Brook - or made financial demands that caused their negotiations to go nowhere.
“It’s easy to criticise him, but I feel sorry for him, he should have done things a lot smarter. Amir Khan’s career has just gone down the toilet and he’s not the name he thinks he is, not on merit. Obviously everyone knows who he is but on boxing merit he’s a nobody," Coldwell told Betsafe.
"This fight (Brook v Khan) could have been this generations Ricky Hatton vs Junior Witter but on a much bigger scale due to the fact both names are bigger. Khan has been waiting for certain fights that just haven't materialised which has meant he’s had a long absence from the ring."
"He can’t come at this fight thinking he is the top dog. Both fighters have to take the fight now, it’s not going to get any bigger, the demand will only deteriorate as both fighters are losing stock."
A Khan vs. Brook showdown has been discussed for several years. But so much time has passed, that Brook has already tasted defeat in his last two fights, and plans to move up in weight to 154-pounds when he returns.
Does Khan return to welterweight? Does he entertain facing Brook at 154? Does Brook head back to 147 to face Khan? Those are all scenarios that have to be sorted out and negotiated.
"The weight the fight is fought at will determine the outcome. Khan has fought Canelo, will he come down to welterweight, will he want to? I think Kell should fight at light middleweight. Will Amir want to fight him at that weight or will he want to fight him at welterweight where he’ll be quicker. The fight will depend on which weight the fight is fought at. If it’s at 154, then Kell Brook should win. Khan has had too long out of the ring," Coldwell said.
"I’m kind of bored talking about this fight as it’s been talked about for so long. It seems that Amir Khan’s mind keeps changing about whether he wants the fight. Is he scared? I understand both of them wanting to have a fight before facing each other. I also understand why there has been a delay in Kell’s return to the ring, he bust his eye and then he was injured. I don’t understand what Amir’s delay is. He needs to get his head sorted."
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