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| Photo: Action Images |
When Khan suffered his first brutal knockout of his professional career to the hands of Breidis Prescott in 2008 he severed ties with his then trainer, Jorge Rubio, before teaming up with, according to many in the business, one of the world’s best in Freddie Roach.
But suffering yet another crushing knockout defeat, this time to Philadelphia’s Danny Garcia, wasn’t in the script for Khan when he left his home town of Bolton for the bright lights of Las Vegas.
Just like Prescott, Garcia was an opponent Khan was expected to beat with ease and all was going just fine for “King Khan” going into the third round.
However, Khan’s world was turned upside down as Garcia landed with a big left-hook to the neck area to send Khan crashing to the canvas for the fifth time in his career.
Seeing Khan’s body shudder from the sheer brute force of Garcia’s counter left-hook wasn’t nice to see.
Khan was dropped twice in the fourth and referee Kenny Bayless had seen enough. It was Breidis Prescott all over again. It was another brutal knockout; another major set-back for one of Britain’s most prized boxing assets.
Khan simply fought the wrong fight against Garcia, as he seemingly ignored his trainer’s game plan of fighting his opponent with quick one-two combinations that would have unravelled Garcia.
Instead, Khan insisted on going toe-toe and got caught.
Angel Garcia’s trash talking should not be underestimated as a contributing factor in why Khan lost, as Danny’s father and trainer got inside his head before the fight.
It’s hard to see how Khan will bounce back from this, with fellow Brit Carl Froch saying he would consider quitting if he had suffered such a heavy loss, but Khan insists he will fight on. “Many fighters down the years have bounced back from defeat to prove their greatness and that's exactly what I intend to do,” said Khan in a statement.
There have been calls for Khan to ditch 52-year-old Roach, with Khan also hinting at a change, but no trainer in the world could improve the fragility of Khan’s chin.
However, it’s no secret that Manny Pacquiao is the main focus for Roach at the Wild Card Gym, which has seen Khan train at times without Roach and also clock up thousands of air miles to the Philippines just to grab the attention of his trainer.
It’s now time for Khan to make himself the number one focus in the gym, and a move back home will also aide Khan’s road to recovery.
It will be a long road back to the elite level, but at 25 has time on his side.
If he does decide to move back to the UK, there will be plenty of opportunities to rebuild with the likes of Ashley Theophane, Paul McCloskey and Prescott all fancying their chances.
A rematch with Prescott, although not in the same class as Khan, could prove to be very appealing to average his first defeat as a pro.
But one more defeat, especially if it's in the manner of his latest loss, then Khan will be staring into the face of retirement.
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