calzaghe on khan knockdown

CAL: GETTING DECKED WILL HELP KHAN TO BE A GREAT EXCLUSIVE BOXING WE'RE BIG HITTERS By Frank Wiechula WORLD CHAMP Joe Calzaghe has told Amir Khan: Being knocked to the canvas will be one of your best boxing lessons. The 20-year-old from Bolton, on whom British boxing is pinning so much hope, was floored by Willie Limond in their Commonwealth lightweight title battle last week before coming back strongly to win. Now Calzaghe is convinced the manner of that stirring recovery - when it seemed his unbeaten record was about to be savagely ended - and the lessons he has learned from the fight will help build Khan up towards a glittering future. Calzaghe, world supermiddleweight champ for a staggering ten years, said: "I don't think his knockdown against Willie Limond will have any adverse affect on his ability to go to the top. "He still has a lot to learn but many of the most outstanding boxers in the history of the game have been on the floor. It is how that you respond which matters - and he cannot be faulted there." And that lengthy list of men who climbed back off the canvas to win fights includes legends like Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Nigel Benn and Naseem Hamed. Experienced Limond gave Khan the sternest test by far of his fledgling two-year pro career, pushing the Olympic silvermedal winning hero to the brink of what would have been one of british boxing's biggest shocks with that sixth-round knockdown. But Khan showed tremendous battling qualities to go hand-inhand with his immense talent to break Limond's jaw and force him to quit on his stool at the end of the eighth round at London's O2 Arena. Calazaghe is full of admiration for his stablemate. He added: "To be honest, Amir was really badly shaken in the sixth against Limond. "However, it isn't the going down that counts most but how you react to it. That is when a true future champion shows a champion's attitude. The heart he displayed in the ring impressed me. It was a shock to him but he could prove better for the experience. "A knockdown is just one of those things that happens to you as a fighter. It doesn't at all mean that you aren't going to succeed. I have been down twice myself - against Byron Mitchell and Kabary Salem - as a pro. "The worst thing that you can do with Amir is to force him into fights too early. "He made mistakes against Limond and now it is a question of returning to the drawing board and going back to the basics. "Looking over the fight round by round there are obviously a fewthings for him to work on, but he is sharp and quick and he will learn the right lessons." And Calzaghe, who has contested 20 world title bouts himself, wants Khan to be given time to let those lessons sink in. He added: "There is absolutely no rush, no hurry for Khan. "He has plenty of time for world contests. It is stupid for anyone to be thinking in those terms yet after just 13 pro bouts. "He is only 20 for goodness sake. I didn't turn professional until I was 21! He needs to gain maturity and experience." Calzaghe, 35, is ready to carve his own name deeper into the record books with a super-fight against fellow unbeaten supermiddle weight world champion Mikkel Kessler, which is scheduled for Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on November 3. And he knows when the time comes for him to hang up those glorious gloves of his the future of British boxing will be left in the more than capable hands of Khan.