Khan can't help himself

Amir Khan faces Pauli Malignaggi this weekend in New York and is a clear favourite to dispatch of the American in similar fashion to which fellow countryman Ricky Hatton did 18 months ago.

However, while the Hitman was, and still is, a fans’ favourite in the UK, Khan has yet to win a large fan base in this country.

Some put this down to racial prejudice with the Bolton fighter being a strict Muslim from a family which descends from Pakistan but while some bigots may think like that, it is not the reason most boxing fans dislike him.

Prince Naseem Hamed had no problem earning the respect of fight fans this side of the Atlantic despite his arrogance as he brought glamour to the sport in Britain.

But while the British nation cheered a 17-year-old Khan to an Olympic silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games, many were soon turned off the Bolton boy wonder when he turned professional.

Many, including myself, were enraged by his arrogance and the way he put himself about at such a young age. He spoke as if he deserved to be a champion already, when he was just simply a boy in a man’s game.

And when Breidis Prescott knocked him flat on his back within a round in September 2008, fight fans cheered and a fair few smiles were raised.

However, Khan changed, or at least I thought he did, when he started working with coach Freddie Roach. He seemed to focus on his boxing again, just like the 17-year-old amateur that the nation went wild for. I began warming to him and by following him on the social networking site, Twitter, it was clear to see he was focused on training hard and being a top professional.

However, when Carl Froch, who did publically criticise Khan in the past, lost out to Mikkel Kessler last month, Khan made a massive error and showed yet again his immaturity which must have had his promoters cringing.

Khan used both his social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, to lambast Froch and publically mock his fellow countryman in the wake of the defeat.

Now while Froch is also another fighter who is not liked by many, and had harshly criticised Khan, the Bolton fighter should have had the sense to get past this and not ruin the rebuilding of his reputation.

Boxing is a gentleman’s game and all pre-fight tension between fighters is usually put behind them when the final bell rings (see Mayweather v Mosley) but Khan has no respect for his fellow professionals and there lies the reason why many dislike him.

This was soon followed by a ridiculous claim by Khan that in 12 months time he will be ready to face Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. Yet again he embarrassed himself.

Khan needs at least three years to get anywhere near the level of those two greats and must yet get past the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez before he could even consider stepping through the ropes to face Mayweather or his gym partner Pacquiao.

It was another case of disrespect from Khan and he wonders why many within the sport don’t respect him or take him seriously. He needs to be told to focus on his boxing and turn the fantastic skill he has into the finished article or he will soon be ditched by promoters, coaches and even those fans that stand by him.

Khan makes Golden choice

Amir Khan has made a shrewd decision leaving Frank Warren’s camp and moving to Golden Boy promotions, another good move since his humiliating defeat at the hands of Breidis Prescott back in September 2008.

The first move after that loss was getting rid of a few hangers on, who were giving him so called advice, and recruiting one the world’s greatest coaches in Freddie Roach.

Roach has coached multiple world champions, many of them taken with only raw potential before being turned into top class boxers and was the perfect man to save Khan's career.

After getting back on track with four straight wins, most notably the defeats of Marco Antonio Barerra and Andreas Kotelnik, Khan has now made the boldest, and probably best decision of his short career so far by ditching Warren.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Khan, I find him to be too arrogant for his own good and his defence is still poor, nowhere near good enough to be talking about being on the same level as stablemate Manny Pacquiao or Miguel Cotto.

However, he does seem to have grown up a lot since the Prescott defeat, and has seen that what Warren will offer is nothing compared to what Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions can.

Money is obviously going to be a huge factor but Khan only has to look close to home at Hatton and Joe Calzaghe to see what many years spent fighting in the UK against below calibre opponents can do to a career.

While Calzaghe was fortunate enough to still be at the peak of his game when he finally got his break in the US, Ricky Hatton has no chance of recovering from big defeats in Las Vegas to Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Five years earlier, he could have.

Khan’s decision will see him get big fights in the US, which despite the hopes of British promoters, is still the stage to prove you really are the best, and he will also get advice from a man who has done it all in the ring - the Golden Boy himself, De La Hoya.

Whether Khan will be able to prosper is another matter, it remains to be seen if he can handle taking big punches and he will have to improve tactically but his career seems to be going in the right direction.

There have been a few rumours circulating as to why he has made the decision; Racism, money and a fall-out with Warren. Let’s just hope it was purely a boxing decision made by Khan and his coaching team.