By Kevin Mitchell, The Guardian
From the signing of the contract to the delivery of the punch, boxing was, is and always will be about timing. This is Amir Khan's time. In the space of 76 seconds (only 18 more than he himself lasted against Breidis Prescott 15 months ago) the Bolton superstar – for that is what he surely is at last after quieting the few remaining boo boys on Saturday night – not only erased the memory of that defeat and consigned his shocked New York challenger, Dmitriy Salita, to anonymity but also sent a message around the fight game that he is the coming man at 10 stones.
While Khan might not yet have grasped the significance of his win, given his relaxed demeanour and unforced humility, he holds more than his World Boxing Association light-welterweight title this morning. He owns the keys to a fortune – against the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton and, yes, maybe even Floyd Mayweather Jr down the road.
These might have seemed names beyond negotiation a short while ago, certainly those of his stablemate Pacquiao and the Filipino's putative opponent this March, Mayweather. But if there is an immutable law in professional boxing it is that money drowns out doubt. If the zeroes are there, the fight is there.
And into that equation, on the back of a quite superb boxing performance – one I was not quite aware he could produce – can be added the name of Kevin Mitchell. Before the main event at a packed and fiery Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle the unbeaten Dagenham fighter did to poor Prescott what Khan could not. Mitchell's unanimous points win, brilliantly orchestrated by his new trainer, Jimmy Tibbs, puts him a fight away from challenging for the World Boxing Organisation lightweight belt and, thereafter, the possibilities for him and his friend Khan are begging to be exploited.
As Khan said later, "He boxed superbly. I spoke to Kevin and I said, 'You have to bob and weave with this guy.' When you slip a guy who throws loopy shots, you're going to slip into the shots, and that's the mistake I made. I got caught and I just didn't recover from it. But he just did what he had to do. Great performance.
"Overnight, it's made him a superstar (there's that word again), and I think there are bigger things for him to come. He's only going to get better. I've seen Prescott and you can see from his face, he took a battering in that fight. So he got him back for me, that's the main thing."
Breidis looked more like John Prescott at the end; Salita didn't look too clever either, wobbling away from the action as if he had been run over by a bus.
"We're both up-and-coming fighters," Khan said of Mitchell, "and we're good friends as well. Kevin's got his dreams to achieve, I've got my dreams to achieve. We'll see what happens in the future. But sometimes friends have to fight each other, just like a lot of people are tipping me to fight Ricky [Hatton]. That's part of boxing."
For the time being, Khan's advisers and his trainer, Freddie Roach, are playing down talk of fights against Pacquiao or Mayweather, which is sensible. Hatton, though, becomes daily a more likely match, probably towards the end of next year. Who promotes it is problematic.
As Roach says, Khan is probably 50% of the fighter he can become; Pacquiao and Mayweather are mature champions of outstanding pedigree. There is time enough to wonder, and to reflect on what was a heady night of boxing in Newcastle.
The convergence of these two fine and contrasting performances on the same evening could not have arrived with more pleasing serendipity. Khan had the previously unbeaten Salita over three times, the first in centre ring with a classic left-right combination, then a chopping overhand shot to the head in a neutral corner before finishing him off with a left hook. It was just about the perfect short fight. Roach said later: "I said to him, 'Next time, wait until I get back down the steps.'"
"Most fighters will probably think about it twice to fight me," Khan said. "But, this game, you want to fight the best. I've made mistakes in my career so I just want to see what's out there. I want to enjoy myself, have a break, spend time with family. I've been away. I've hardly been home this year, if you think about it. I've had three fights and spent a lot of time in the States."
The issue of his migration, however temporary, will not subside. While his promoter, Frank Warren, expended much energy again in deriding the media for asking Khan to talk about those few comedians who boo him for being a Muslim, the fighter is content on both sides of the Atlantic. Home is for family; away is for business – and that is where he will almost certainly fight next.
The opponent could be the Argentinian Marcos René Maidana or either of two Americans, Victor Ortiz or Juan Díaz.
Whoever it is will face a champion reborn, a young man who celebrates his 23rd birthday tomorrow and who walks now with a knowing strut, not at all arrogant, but comfortable with his gifts. In his corner he has a trainer whose CV just gets better and who will not let Khan stray into dangerous waters ill-equipped, as was the case only 15 months ago. It's all about timing.
Source:
guardian.co.uk
