Khan Hopes He Has Inspired Other Fighters To Take Big Risks

By Keith Idec

Amir Khan hopes his decision to challenge Canelo Alvarez encourages fighters to take more risks in their careers.

England’s Khan (31-3, 19 KOs), a welterweight who has been stopped in lightweight and junior welterweight bouts, technically has moved up two weight classes to fight Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) for the Mexican superstar’s WBC middleweight title May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (HBO Pay-Per-View).

Khan clearly could’ve pursued less dangerous bouts, but sought a high-risk, high-reward alternative after fights he chased against Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. failed to materialize.

“There are a lot of fights out there that don’t happen because fighters don’t basically have the balls to take the fight,” Khan said Tuesday during a conference call. “But I think with me taking this fight, I hope it inspires young fighters out there and other professionals to take big fights in their professional career.

“And if you wanna be remembered as a great fighter, you need to take big fights like this. That’s what boxing is all about, really. And that’s one of the reasons I’m in boxing, because I wanna be remembered as a great fighter and I wanna achieve everything and fight the biggest fights in my boxing career. Because one day when I leave, I don’t wanna ever be like, ‘I regret not having this fight and I should’ve taken this fight and I should’ve had this fight.’ ”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.