Where does Amir Khan go from here?

I was prompted to write this article, from which I extracted the title based upon a question posed by Mary Ann Lurie Owen, a sports photographer and more, as well as an acquaintance who presides over the facebook social network group “Boxing Rant.” The exact question went like this. “Amir Khan down for the 3rd time, where does he go from here?”

To get where he was until last night, at which point he would suffer a devastating fourth round kayo loss at the hands of undefeated defending WBC, and now WBA junior welterweight champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (24-0, 15 KO’s) of Philadelphia, PA, British born Amir “King” Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) has been known to put on his track shoes, or get on his bicycle so to speak, in an effort to outmaneuver and outlast many an opponent, especially when in against the harder hitting variety.

But not such a hard hitter himself when in against upper echelon fighters, the necessity of Amir Khan having to out-box and out-quick many of his latest opponents has been tantamount to him continuing on in the sport successfully against the division’s best, especially in light of his outright vulnerable chin.

After Khan was reinstated as champion at least by the WBA after the steroid fallout concerning his most recent encounter with Lamont Peterson, as long as he was working off of a stiff accurate jab to which he committed himself to against Danny Garcia last night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, Amir wouldn’t encounter many problems if at all. As a matter of fact, behind his jab he would stop the Puerto Rican in his tracks, setting up follow up punches, and causing Garcia to come up short repeatedly with return fire.

However, along with not remaining at the end of that jab consistently to his own demise, Khan would fall in as a result of being overly aggressive at times, lingering too close too often. Willing to at this point exchange with a crafty counter-puncher in “Swift” Garcia, Amir became so comfortable that he saw fit to lead off with an uncharacteristic left-hook right-uppercut combination in the third round, in effect setting himself up for disaster in the form of a counter left hook.

And in Khan getting decked by the left hook in question, what is most perplexing regarding the entire situation is that for the less than solid set of whiskers that Amir is known to possess, the first knockdown suffered in round 3 that had the Brit out on his feet, was rather the result of a blow to the neck instead of a shot landed to the jaw, chin, or temple.

Follow this up in the fourth round with two other knockdowns, one from a glancing blow to the top of the head, and the other a shot on the forehead, both of which took the legs from an already woozy Khan, and this perhaps signifies something wrong with the general equilibrium of the Pakistani fighter. This is especially evident in light of the fact that in between suffering the knockdowns, Amir was taking seemingly flush shots to other parts of the head of which he wouldn’t show the same effects.

Suffice it to say, I estimate that the shots taken, other than the knockdown blows, were visible to Khan so that he prepared accordingly to lessen their effect, whereas the punches that sent him to the canvass were unseen and therefore more effective. Nevertheless, they weren’t the hardest of punches, so that overall it seems that Amir “King” Khan can’t take a punch very well anywhere from the neck up.

Now I don’t want to take away from what Garcia did in putting Khan on queer street numerous times, but much like football players after suffering an initial concussion, perhaps Amir is more susceptible to the effects of blows to the head as a result of his confrontation with Breidis Prescott way back when. Could Prescott have done more than just cause Khan to suffer his first professional defeat when he brutally knocked out the British prizefighter in 2008?

This could indeed be the case as Breidis may have in fact put Amir on a road from which he can’t seem to find his way back. Moreover, it’s perhaps no coincidence is that Amir “King” Khan is a slap, grab, and run type fighter in many an instance, needing to mainly box from a distance so as to avoid counter blows at all costs in an effort to emerge unscathed in his fights. But unscathed he wasn’t last night, quite possibly the result of Danny’ father Angel getting under Amir’ skin and causing Khan to trade more often than suits him.

And considering he wasn’t able or willing to remain at range against a fighter in Garcia whom he may have underestimated, Khan would be well served to step back and evaluate the situation as regards his future. For similar to Juan Manuel Lopez, another fighter quite susceptible to the effects of head blows, and a man who would best be served by retiring, Amir needs to see where he is at, and where he is going.

So where does Amir Khan go from here? Am I suggesting that he retire? Not necessarily. But looking at the landscape with all the talent in the 140 and 147 pound divisions, in going forward, Amir needs to box much more efficiently than he did against Garcia, a man who is surely not recognized as the hardest puncher at junior welterweight, nor the most talented at this juncture either.

And with Amir alluding to perhaps campaigning once more at welterweight, it doesn’t get much easier for him there either. For even if moving up in weight bodes well for him in terms of having more power, or whether he incorporates a style that uses more head movement to take the force off an opponent’s punches, he just seems unstable from slightest of blows.

To sum up, I thought it incisive to put forth a couple of lists compiled by Wikipedia. The initial list below contains fighters who have either demonstrated weak chins over the years, or are suspected of having them, while the secondary list is a compilation containing the names of athletes who have demonstrated the toughest of chins, or those who have took it and shook it.

In reading from left to right, you’ll notice that Khan is number 3 on the initial vulnerable chin list. Also notice that some of the fighters in that first group ironically will, or have ended up in the Hall of Fame, while some were middle of the road, with yet others packing it in after getting blasted by elite level fighters. To me, until proven otherwise, Khan currently falls into the category of middle of the road fighters, and may soon prove to be one of those who have packed it in after potential defeats by those perceived to be A level pugilists. Only time will tell.

That brings us to the second group. Note that not all of these fighters are the greatest of mobile boxers. However, the majority of them have had more lasting and rewarding careers as compared to that of the initial group of prizefighters. There are exceptions of course either way it goes, but where Amir Khan will end up nobody knows. If one were to judge based on last night’s performance, it would point in the direction of Khan heading South.

James Kirkland, Roy Jones Jr., Amir Khan, Herbie Hide, Mark Breland, Tommy Morrison, Terry Norris, Bob Satterfield, Lennox Lewis, Michael Grant, Bruce Seldon, Audley Harrison, David Haye, Danny Williams, Travis Walker, Junior Jones, Andrew Maynard, Henry Tillman, Clifford Etienne, Tye Fields, Marvis Frazier, Vivian Harris, Hozumi Hasegawa, Thomas Hearns, Roger Mayweather, Zab Judah, Wladimir Klitschko, Jorge Linares, Juan Manuel López, Kuniaki Shibata, Hiroshi Kawashima, Rafael Marquez, Michael Moorer, Ken Norton, Floyd Patterson, Oleg Maskaev, Augie Sanchez, Lou Savarese, Ronald Hearns, Earnie Shavers, Jermain Taylor, and Yuriorkis Gamboa

George Chuvalo, Muhammad Ali, Oliver McCall, Wayne McCullough, Carmen Basilio, Roberto Durán, Julio César Chávez, Marvin Hagler, Jake LaMotta, Randall “Tex” Cobb, Carlos Baldomir, Tommy Farr, Carl Froch, Gene Fullmer, Kid Gavilan, Harry Greb, Arthur Abraham, Evander Holyfield, Vito Antuofermo, Bernard Hopkins, James J. Jeffries, Sam Langford, Glen Johnson, Vitali Klitschko, Paul Malignaggi, Rocky Marciano, Joey Maxim, Antonio Margarito, Carlos Monzon, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Kostya Tszyu, Shane Mosley, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., James Toney, David Tua, Arturo Gatti, Micky Ward, Tomasz Adamek, James J. Braddock, and Oscar De La Hoya