But see that's a real fundamental difference. These guys are products of their surroundings and at times we as fans can have unreasonable expectations. Imo if a guy with Khans skills tuned out and got rid of the plastic around him for even a few years he might be a different fighter. Greb fought close to 50 times one year. Today we make a big deal about a guy who fights 5 times a year even if three of them were tomato cans.Then when a fighter has a setback we toss them. Modern day boxing at the high levels is probably the most unforgiving sport on earth. Moore took 800 bucks to Maxims 100,000 for his shot and routinely fought for 10 bucks a fight earlier in his career. To me that's the real difference.Many fighters could benefit from 'living tough', look at Katsidis. His training camps abroad sounded bruutal, he knew he had to do it in order not to lose his edge. He was considered limited by many but who knows, he may not have achieved half of what he did without the mental toughness and physical fitness he had.True enough and another quality post.Losing a fight or 2 or 5 was not the end of a career. Perhaps whats lacking here is poverty. All 3 of the guys mentioned came out of squalor. Khan seems to come from a privileged back ground was put on a pedestal like Harrison and was probably and early millionaire. Celebrity trainers don't help either. Btw I'm no fan of Khan but if he could get his head on straight instead of surrounding himself with yes men and go back to the grind he could change things around. If I were him I'd go find me a trainer in East Philly or something who has trained for 50 years and nobody knows his name. I'd cancel his twitter and fb accounts and not allow the cameras into his camps. Complete and utter re-dedication to his craft.I understand what you are saying and I'm not saying that i'm right or wrong, it's just my personal thoughts towards Khan.I can see the point you make and specifically in Khans case it may have helped him when he was against the wall in future fights but they decided not to and as it turns out Prescott has turned out to me essentially a one hit wonder anyway.Probably said it 100 times, Khan has great skills and could beat anyone in or around his weight. That chin or whatever it is will always be a high risk to let him down.
He could move up and beat Ward, I still wouldn't be a fan. For not demanding a rematch with Prescott is unforgiveable in my eyes. Some fighters would have taken the fight for free if it meant getting the chance to put the record straight.
Entertaining when he fights? yes but there's definitely something missing. He went out of his way to get the Peterson result overturned, before any drugs issue was out, it was all about the man in the hat. Shady dealings it did look like but where was the burning desire to put the record straight with his fists?. Maidana was worthy of a rematch but no chance that was going to happen.
Why didn't he take peanuts to lure Garcia in to an immediate rematch? Khan has millions he could have made that money back by now.
Fuck me even 'Dudey' looked only 1 big uppercut away from dropping Khan on his arse even if he was losing every round.
I'm sure Khan can be a nice guy but the fact he didn't go back in against Prescott and the fact he refers to himself as 'amir khan' and not 'i' like us mere mortals would tells me all I need to know.
Benny Leonard was cold cocked in his first fight and his 12th and then once again in his 16th and 20th and he never rematched any of them except Flemming and he lost that fight also by decision.
Henry Armstrong was laid out in his first fight and lost 2 of his next three but he never bothered to hunt down Al Lovino.
Arguello was knocked out in his 5th fight and then lost to a guy he beat previously right after and he never did seek revenge over Amaya.
Its a good point that the Prescott loss could be haunting him still and that a revenge match may have changed things but those above persevered in spite of early blow outs and went on to become legends.
I know Prescott has turned out to be nothing special, I never actually expected him to be after the Khan fight. He just happened to be the first person who could finish Khan off once he had hurt him, Khan had already been hurt on numerous occasions just no one had capitilised on it. Khan was an olympic silver medallist who was telling everyone he could rule the world. No one knew what Prescott would go on to do but that shouldn't matter. He could have been a 15-20-5 journeyman. Either way Prescott continually shouted for him to take the opportunity. (for the payday i'm sure)
Thanks for mentioning the other fighters who never went after their conquerers, it does in a way undermine my own views to some extent. The only difference being that these guys were fighting more often and against tough guys, and probably were not expected to achieve what they did. Khan rebuilds against guys much smaller, which long term can't help him out.
As I said i'm not saying i'm right in my beliefs but the way Khan goes about things is not what I admire. I may be a bit harsh saying that no matter what he achieves i'll never be a fan.
Now this might sound gay but Rocky 3 was always my favourite. Apollo Creed took Rocky away from his luxuries and soft living to remind him what it took to be a hungry fighter. I agree with you 100% about cameras in camps, facebook etc but these guys need their egos feeding. It's normal for a lot of these guys to be surrounded by yes men and they probably wouldn't function properly without them.
A loss shouldn't matter but unfortunately it does. If guys were able to fight once a month it wouldn't matter so much as it could be erased from memory with a few quick wins. Khan was a millionaire quickly (either that or was rich very quick) There was a show on Sky sports abut him relatively early and he was driving around in flash cars wearing decent clothes before he had barely made a dent in the pros.
It must be hard when a guy is that young but fighters have to remember what they are and why they do what they do.
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