Amir Khan's Talents Worthy Of Recognition

Amir Khan has a talent that deserves celebration in Britain - and yet in the popularity stakes the fast and furious fighter from Bolton is found wanting.

That is a shame, for his swift disposal of crafty and dangerous veteran Zab Judah was a wonderful showcase of his speedy combinations and growing ability at the age of just 24.

There are many factors - some explained, some unexplained - as to why Khan does not get the thousands upon thousands of fans splashing their savings on trips across the pond in the same way Ricky Hatton did.

Arguably Khan is much more talented proposition in the ring and he's beginning to build a record that could match up to Hatton's - Andriy Kotelnik, Paulie Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana and Judah have all been world champions - although he lacks a name like Kostya Tszyu.

It's fair to say a lot of the problems stem from an out-of-the-ring persona. Some of this is fair and some of it grossly unfair.

Starting with the latter, there have been accusations of racism against a fighter of Pakistani heritage. This is a not unreasonable point and there's no doubting elements of prejudice among some, a small minority, exist.

Moving on other reasons why Khan does not attract the popularity he deserves and it's worth considering the way Khan has conducted himself - or perhaps more importantly, how 'Team Khan' have conducted themselves.

There's no shame in trying to make a decent living from an unforgiving sport but the way in which Khan Promotions cut themselves off from Sky TV before the Paul McCloskey fight was shameful. Originally scheduled for Sky's Pay-Per-View, there had been suggestions that Khan Promotions were unwilling to pay a decent wage to fighters for the undercard on the bill. Whether this was true or not remains unclear but a number of decent boxers dropped out beforehand and we were left with a fight night that was not worth paying around £15 for to see on TV.

Sky were quick to acknowledge this fact and refused to put the broadcase on pay-per-view - a relief for fight fans suffering cash flow issues in the times of a credit crunch.

'Team Khan' thought otherwise and decided to stick the McCloskey bout on Primetime, which is a little-known pay-per-view satellite station in the UK. It left a bad taste. If you're going to make fight fans pay for something, at least have something worth paying for.

Then in the aftermath of this contest there was more bad feeling as Khan and his entourage taunted McCloskey in a bad-tempered post-fight press conference, who despite being soundly behind was ludicrously stopped halfway through with a paper-thin cut.

Khan's message was: "Shut up, listen to the champion, he's talking." Or words to that effect.

Since that fight Khan and his team have refused to do business with Sky and the Judah fight was left somewhere in space for British fight fans - or a channel known as Primetime, where it costs about £15 to see the show on TV. Worse still, there were complaints that Primetime's internet broadcast was shaky and grainy and slow.

But despite the perceived attitude and arrogance, Khan has something special and deserves respect for the way he his career has soared after teaming up with Freddie Roach. When they first got together Khan was picking up the pieces of a reputation smashed in one round by Breidis Prescott.

Khan was humble to go to a gym where he would start lower down the pecking order with a lot to prove. He got his head down and is on course to be recognised as a British boxer worthy of acclaim in the history books.

Being humble helps with the British. Can Amir Khan achieve stardom - and have popularity in the UK at the same time? That question has not been resolved.

Amir Khan and Zab Judah: The Pot Bubbles

Flashy, speedy and vulnerable. Those are words that could be applied to both WBA Light-Weltweight king Amir Khan and IBF title holder Zab Judah who meet on July 23.

Both fighters have been talking about their chances and as it's the modern age most of that has been done via Twitter. One wonders whether these two fighters use their flunkies to do the typing. It would certainly provide an alibi if anyone threatens to sue.

Back to the contest itself and there's the potential for an exciting encounter which I don't think will go the distance.

Zab Judah is fast and sharp, especially in the early stages, and he hits pretty hard. He's also been up to welterweight and traded with heavier foes.

Amir Khan is similarly fast and sharp and looks to have a growing frame that would allow him to compete at a higher weight.

Now for their weaknesses. Both men have been accused of being chinny - an accusation levelled at fighters far too often and often far too unfairly, of course. They've been down numerous times in their career but it's not just about their chins, it's also about their styles. They like to release a blur of punches and in doing so leave themselves open to counters.

This fight might come down to who catches who first. Khan for me has the better focus, while Judah too often gets distracted - he has a short attention span.

For now both fighters are using their jaws to talk and talk, bark and bark. Let's see come fight night whose jaw will be absorbing the most blows.

Liverpool Fight Night: More Predictions

There are some other notable fights taking place at the Liverpool Echo Arena on Saturday night.

WBO Super-Featherweight Champion Ricky Burns (31-2) is taking on Nicky Cook (30-2) in a bout that shouldn't really be taking place. Cook had two years out of the ring after being stopped by Roman Martinez in 2009 and his only fight since was a points win to journeyman Youssef Al Hamidi. This doesn't equip him for this opportunity and his best days are behind him. In contrast, Burns appears to be getting better with time. The only concern might be complacency but I see Burns comprehensively winning a points decision.

Hard-hitting Liverpudlian Tony Bellew (15-0) is taking on Ovill McKenzie (18-10) in a rematch. Bellew went down hard twice in the first contest but stopped McKenzie on his feet after the Jamaican-born Derby fighter had been down once. McKenzie has a misleading record and is a real handful. He appears to have had proper preparation for this contest and there's some real needle. Bellew has the better ability but can also get too emotionally-involved in fights, going for a tear-up. I would not be surprised to see McKenzie score an upset with his punches from unorthodox angles against an opponent who may well be struggling at light-heavyweight. If the fight goes more than four rounds, however, I definitely feel McKenzie's suspect stamina will cause him to unravel.

On ability alone, Frankie Gavin (10-0) could and should be a world-beater. He has an instinctive understanding of space and timing that can't be taught, delivering brilliant combinations from a southpaw stance. However, here's the but...He seems too small for welterweight yet can't make light-welterweight and there are concerns about his out of the ring party antics (drinking) as he bids to live up to his Funtime Frankie nickname. Against former professional footballer Curtis Woodhouse (15-2) at welterweight he finds himself in with a willing and able opponent who has a good dig (10 knockouts). Woodhouse is honest, respectable and deserves a huge amount of credit for his devotion to the sport of boxing after leaving the more lucrative world of football. He doesn't have the same ability but will push on to ask questions. I fancy Gavin - who has been fired up for this one as both men have trash-talked - to stop Woodhouse on his feet with a flurry of combinations, probably in the second half after boxing ahead with sharp shots.

John Murray and Kevin Mitchell: Prediction

Boxers often tend to elect to slip on a mask in the build up to a fight.

Ribs bruised from sparring, a broken toe or a bust-up with the missus - little or big problems are usually meticulously kept under wraps before the bout and with good reason as a fighter bids to project confidence and avoid showing his opponent a weakness.

There is a British boxer who knows better than most about keeping a lid on bubbling issues and his name is Kevin Mitchell. He's due to fight the relentless Mancunian John Murray this weekend for the European lightweight title. Both men are talking about trying for WBA king and ferocious pitbull Brandon Rios next.

Last year Kevin Mitchell was blitzed in three rounds by Australian Michael Katsidis. Despite a promising opening where Mitchell got on his toes and peppered away with jabs he eventually succumbed to the much bigger Katsidis who deftly chopped the ring down, closed the gap and stopped the Dagenham man in front of his home fans.

It was a devastating loss which was compounded by revelations that Mitchell had apparently been suffering domestic problems with an on-off relationship with his partner and mother of his children. There was talk he had been kipping on sofas, rowing, switching from house to house and even talk of drink. This had been kept quiet and even Mitchell's promoter Frank Warren seemed unaware until after the fight.

As a professional fighter Kevin Mitchell should have known better. He would have been better served using the method adopted by a good proportion of the top-level boxers - shut himself off from distractions and trained like an animal. Katsidis certainly took that approach and looked in magnificent condition, displaying a steely focus for the job in hand. Mitchell struggled to get down to the weight and by the time he did, looked smaller and weaker than his foe.

All this talk of problems, or excuses some might say, leads on to this weekend's tasty encounter with John Murray in the other corner.

Despite legal issues concerning allegations he was involved with a cannabis factory surrounding Mitchell in the build-up to the occasion, he has been projected an aura of confidence. This week he even reeled in dwindling 'Cockney geezer' actor Danny Dyer to hold his pads as he wailed away.

"Look at his mince pies!" Dyer chirped away, nodding at a determined-looking Mitchell. Note - that's cockney rhyming slang for eyes in case you wondered.

The question is - how much of this projected mindset is real and how much is false? A mask?

John Murray, meanwhile, would love to take the Ricky Hatton 'man-of-the-people' title. They hail from the same city and have the same come-forward style but in front of the camera Murray is a little more dour and understated.

He hold the advantages in size against a natural super-featherweight and will look to plough through his smaller foe. Murray is 31-0 to Mitchell's 31-1 and, if comparing records, it's fair to say Mitchell has the edge after he saw of Amir Khan's conqueror Breidis Prescott and domestic dangerman Carl Johanneson. Murray has had something of a slow-burning career and his record is dotted with decent domestic operators.

John Murray will see this as his coming-out party where he can make a statement in front of a big crowd at Liverpool's Echo Arena, while Kevin Mitchell sees the shot as a chance to right a wrong from last year and get back on track.

On the surface this fight is a 50-50 contest. John Murray is the bigger fighter who will look to trap his man on the ropes and overwhelm him with pressure. Mitchell has the better boxing skills with an underrated jab and decent footwork. Will Murray wear him down or will Mitchell box his way to victory?

It's hard to call this fight but with Mitchell having been out of the ring for 14 months I think the mountain is too big to climb. Credit to him for getting back in there with a dangerous and worthy opponent but I see Murray pulling away in the second half of the fight. Mitchell will have his moments but I worry the Katsidis fight has taken something out of him mentally and Murray appears to be the fresher fighter in this one.

Ricky Hatton: Retirement

So, two-weight world champion and British boxing icon Ricky Hatton has announced his retirement this week.

The news wasn't a surprise but it was surely a welcome announcement. It wasn't a knee-jerk reaction or a rash response to a loss but a calm, collected decision made in the cold light of day some two years of Hatton's devastating two-round loss to Manny Pacquiao.

With a record of 45-2 - including a spell as the consensus world number one at light-welterweight and a WBA welterweight belt along the way - Hatton can be justifiably proud of his achievements. He scaled the heights in the ring and had two, albeit unsuccessful attempts, to become a pound-for-pound number one. Further, he appeared to make a lot of money and was immensely popular with his fans.

Personally I feel Hatton was a little overrated by the British press during his prime and then a little underrated by the same press after he suffered losses against two of the greatest fighters of his era.

At his best, under the tuition of then-trainer and then-friend Billy Graham, Hatton was an exciting come-forward, head-bobbing grinder. He didn't necessarily have immense one-punch power but instead put together stinging clusters of shots and often scored best with his sickening bodyshots. On the flipside, particularly during his decline, Hatton tended to hold and wrestle his opponents too much and became a lot more rash in his approach.

At the very elite he fell short but Hatton still deserves to be mentioned as one of the greatest post-war British fighters. With seemingly promising business interests, including his promotional stable, here's hoping Ricky Hatton finds contentment and happiness in his retirement.

David Haye's Crossroads

The common perception of David Haye can be sliced into two - what many thought of the British fighter before he took on and lost to Wladimir Klitschko and how many choose to peceive him now.

Before Saturday night Haye was seen as a serious threat to a consistent and careful fighter in Klitschko who was seen to have a brittle interior behind his defences - as evidenced in his three career knockout losses.

It shows you how fickle, exciting and unpredictable the world of boxing can be though. One minute you're on top, the next you're apparently a nobody as pre-fight predictions of an era-defining contest for the heavyweight era were tossed away. Haye now find himself subject to scorn after not living up to his hyped-up boasts.

There has been some relish from fight fans not particularly keen on David Haye's personalilty and I was inclined to think of a similarly vocal and pumped-up fighter from Britains, Prince Naseem Hamed, who was also gleefully fed a plate-load of humble pie after crashing to a points loss to the brilliant Marco Antonio Barrera.

While boxing, despite its many faults, should not be compared to the pantomime of wrestling just yet, it's clear that Haye's mouth helped as much, if not more, than his fists to get this major fight - not to mention payday in the process.

But away from the hype machine, how does Haye's career record stack up? It's a particularly significant subject insofar as he finds himself at something of a crossroads having always claimed he would retired by the age of 31 - an age he will turn in just three months time.

Will he fight on or will he retire? A tricky but make no respect canny negotiator who likes to get what he feels he's worth - and there's no shame in that - Haye has made a lot of enemies and there's no chance he will be able to continue with such an approach if he hopes to position himself with a world title shot again.

Instead, Haye faces a few less appetising opportunities if he chooses to rumble on with his career. This might include a rematch with Wladimir for a lot less money and less enthusiasm from the fans. It might mean taking on a fringe contender such as Chris Arreola, which would do little for Haye's ring record. Wladimir's brother Vitali is tied up taking on Tomasz Adamek in September so there's little chance of that fight happening in the short-term.

There's always the promised retirement but where would that leave Haye's legacy?

Well, as a cruiserweight there's no doubt Haye cleaned up in a short space of time and was a unified world champion. That deserves huge credit.

But as a heavyeweight David Haye has fallen short of his promise. Monte Barrett was a decent journeyman, Nicolay Valuev a novelty act reliant on immense size and little technical skill, while John Ruiz was a grizzled veteran past his best and Audley Harrison a cash-making unwilling opponent.

It's not a poor legacy but it's certainly no better than average in what has been a dour time for the heavyweight champion. Perhaps we expected too much of Haye, who had and may still have a fresh, engaging personality coupled with speed and pop in the ring but on his biggest night fell short.

There's no doubt Haye will be burning inside from the loss and it could well force him to re-schedule his plans to try and right a wrong. He still has all his faculties so perhaps one more year might help ease the pain. Of course, as the previous legendary Roy Jones Jr has shown, a slippery slide can add more and more cracks to a legacy.

This is the dilemma Daid Haye faces.

Wladimir Klitschko v David Haye: The Aftermath

When an overly confident, brash individual appears stunned and surprised to have met their match it's often remarked that they appeared to not know what hit them. 

In being comprehensively outboxed by Wladimir Klitschko, it's fair to say that David Haye did know what had hit him.

A jab. Repeatedly thrust into his face, preventing him and psychologically deterring him from roaring forward and smashing Klitschko's supposedly brittle chin.

The heavyweight contest - which was for the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts - was a pretty dull affair but surely that suited the methodical Klitschko. He was able to dictatate the pace and keep Haye on the back foot with his ramrod jab. Basically, he had little need to consider a wider variety of single shots and combinations that might leave himself exposed.

Haye, meanwhile, complained of a broken toe hampering his movement. The post-fight photographs showed this to be genuine yet it was surely a minor irrelevence. The biggest problem for the brash Brit was the size difference. Haye had just about managed to squeeze past the ambling, ungainly Nikolai Valuev, who was 7ft-plus, using superior boxing skills and good footwork but against the 6ft 7in Klitschko it was a bridge too far for the former cruiserweight champion.

On the night, despite the hype and anticipation, Klitschko and Haye did not blend well. Klitschko was able to use his reach to pick and peck his way to a clear and very credible points win, while Haye was unable nor seeminly willing to shake up the contest with the exception of a rather fizzy 12th round where Klitschko appeared to be a little rattled by a booming shot that managed to connect.

Klitschko jabbed and jabbed - and let's give him the respect he deserved for he was pretty much meticulous on the night. Haye swiped at thin air too many times and seemed to focus all his energy on a huge overhand right haymaker (or Hayemaker) that never materialised.

It seems that Wladimir Klitschko and in the shorter term, his older brother Vitali, who own all the world title belts at heavyweight, can sweep away the opposition for some time to come. There are no genuine threats to these jabbing giants - only complacency.

Note - This blog has gathered a bit of dust during the past few weeks. There's a reason for that - I've been absent proudly getting married and enjoying a nice honeymoon with my wonderful wife. I've now returned to reality though so please do keep perusing my site!