is amir khan a wasted talent??

[New England]

Maybe you're unfamiliar with what Bradley himself said at the time. That's ok, you're ****** any way but even you know how to use google so...give it a try

you are completely cluless if you ignore what i typed to talk about something bradley said to the media

7 figure contracts and lawsuits are a heck of a lot more important than saying someting to the media [,] unless you're a brit and you're trying to argue that bradley ducked khan, of course.


bradley "ducked" khan to fight a better, harder punching fighter. kahn was this fighter's sparring partner for many years. his name is manny pacquiao.

you guys are like children. that you even type messages addressed to me makes me laugh.

[Doctor_Tenma]

Wasted talent is more like a Dmitry Pirog or Demetrius Andrade, when I think Khan I think of someone who isn't worthy of the attention he gets, someone who barely got by Algieri.

[j0zef]

Is it bad I can make a case to pick any of the 3 options in the poll? :-/

[ruedboy]

Khan has skills but there's way too much hype around him.
He's been trolling for a mega fight and avoiding anybody who could test his chin. Considering his record since he lost to Peterson and got knocked out by Garcia, I'd say he should walk away before a legitimate ww hurts him bad.

[emre belozoglu]

He could become one but he has time to reach his potential though staying with hunter is hurting him in my opinion

[BWC]

I feel Khan is a little underrated at this point but I don't really get excited for his fights anymore. Mostly because he just never seems to get the big fights. Even a Kell Brook fight at this point would be the biggest thing he could do, yet he won't do it.

Just another good fighter in an era when none of the top guys ever fight each other, just sort of circle each other for years so you never know how good they really are..

[miniq]

I feel Khan is a little underrated at this point but I don't really get excited for his fights anymore. Mostly because he just never seems to get the big fights. Even a Kell Brook fight at this point would be the biggest thing he could do, yet he won't do it.

Just another good fighter in an era when none of the top guys ever fight each other, just sort of circle each other for years so you never know how good they really are..

This is a huge problem in boxing...and an epidemic at 147.

[sako5]

Wasted talent?! He's more like a waste of space to be honest.

[Thread Stealer]

No, he's done pretty well for himself considering his dubious chin and technical flaws. People often think a fighter must be skillful because they have speed of hand, and also foot. That's not to say Khan is a skillless bum but his skills leave a lot to be desired, to say the least.

There's something I bring up regarding "talent". It's hard to measure sometimes, it's not just hand/foot speed and power, and you always have to take into account work ethic. Fighters like Mayweather and RJJ are obviously blessed with a lot of physical gifts. But they've been boxing since they were little kids, it's what they were raised to do. Obviously experience and endless time in the gym are to be considered.

Also, some fighters may pick up things quicker. Petronelli said as a kid, Hagler just "picked up on things quicker". Hagler obviously worked hard to pick up on those things, but you can say someone who learns boxing quicker and improves those skills easier has a "talent" for boxing. Whereas I don't picture Khan as someone who picks up on boxing techniques too well. If he does, he can forget a lot of it in the ring and resort to instincts. When you've been boxing as long as Khan has, and you so often practically fall onto your opponent after throwing a 1-2, it's safe to say that you aren't blessed with the best balance and composure. Other fast fighters like Michael Nunn and Hector Camacho Sr. clearly looked to have better balance, coordination and fluidity than Khan. It's not like Khan was on their level and he wasted away his gifts. They were far better during their peaks and more talented, Khan has done what he can with his physical gifts and his brain.

There are limitations due to Khan's brains. He just doesn't have the ring IQ and instincts that better fighters do. You can teach him all these techniques, but he's the one in the ring fighting. He was showing good signs against Collazo, which I feel was his best performance. He was picking his shots well, doing things more deliberately, showing defensive moves and countering. But later on, he resorted back to instincts, which was to hold and push Collazo's head down, rather than parrying and ducking blows. As we saw against Algieri, he can get disrupted from his game rather easily and the flaws come out again. Algieri of all people decided to turn into a pressure fighter and almost beat Khan.

I don't think Khan is some lazy fighter who doesn't train. I don't think he is someone who doesn't want to put in the effort, he just has limitations. Other fighters may be slower, but they may have more of a talent for the sport. They have a "feel" for boxing and simply have more "know-how" in the ring.

When Khan was taken out so quickly against Prescott, people were writing him off as a joke and saying he was exposed and that was it for him. Khan has become a titlist and was one of the top guys at 140 for a couple years, so I'd say he's done pretty well for himself.

[Thread Stealer]

No, he's just not that good.

He's always been style over substance. Other than his chin, he has poor defense, no inside game, leaves himself wide open when he throws, is predictable, and doesn't look good on the back foot.

Very true, except his style is extremely ugly. But I know what you mean.

It's the Ali/Leonard thing. People see a guy with fast hands moving across the ring and think it means he has a lot of boxing skills and often think he's doing better than he really is. Nevermind that Leonard was generally more effective when he fought flat-footed (which he fought more often than danced), and that Ali had MUCH more to his game than his dancing (when he was young enough to dance).

Some of the perception of Khan being an underachiever/waste of talent probably has much to do with unrealistic expectations of him. I remember HBO trying to make him a star, which resulted in some horrendously biased commentary with some real head-scratching comments. Some people actually said Khan was "the future" and was some P4P fighter in the making. I have no idea how anyone could actually watch Khan and actually come to the conclusion that he was some future great in the making, so that's how I just figure that people overrate speed.

But as I've said before, he's actually done pretty well for himself. A lot of people just put too much emphasis on speed, but in actuality he's had a pretty respectable career. Not an underachiever or waste of talent.