Amir Khan must summon “a pitch-perfect performance” against Terence Crawford on Saturday here at the hallowed Madison Square Garden in a bold late-career bid to become a two-weight, world champion.
The challenge could not be tougher, as he faces an American regarded as in the top three all-round boxers in the world.
It represents another potential legacy fight for the Boltonian after his audacious challenge against Saul Alvarez at middleweight in Las Vegas three years ago. He was knocked out by a huge, right hand in the fifth round by the much bigger Mexican then, but Khan is not one to quit and, after hand surgery, the 32-year-old returns to the scene of his American debut 10 years ago for what will be his ninth contest on these shores.
The unbeaten World Boxing Organisation welterweight title holder Crawford has left 34 victims in his wake, making him a champion in three divisions. He is sometimes a slow starter as he works out his rivals, but moves effortlessly, switching between orthodox and southpaw stances which allows him to create more angles of attack.
The 31-year-old, who is one of only six boxers in history to be a four-belt unified champion, is adept at using jabs and power punches.
Khan possesses arguably the fastest hand speed in the sport. Offensively, he is one of the finest. But his defence has often been found wanting. It has made him one of boxing’s most exciting, yet vulnerable, exponents.
Khan said: “It’s a massive fight for me. We’ve worked on speed, power, explosiveness. There will be times I’ll have to put that power on him. I’m going to be very focused throughout the fight, no matter what. I can’t forget the game plan or make any mistakes because I’m up against a very dangerous fighter.
“When you’re fighting someone like Crawford, you know you can’t make any mistakes. I’ve got to be on my A game for this fight. It has to be a pitch-perfect performance.”
To counteract Khan’s blistering hand speed, Crawford’s trainer Brian McIntyre took his charge to the US Air Force Academy during this training camp to develop his hand-eye co-ordination, utilising a light reaction drill used by pilots to check his split second reaction times. The Omaha fighter came out with flying colours.
McIntyre has predicted that the contest will be “competitive for the first couple of rounds until Terence catches his rhythm. Khan was doing good against Alvarez until he got careless. There is a habit for him to slow down after about four rounds. He gets fatigued and starts taking stupid chances.”
Veteran promoter Bob Arum said: “Crawford is a terrific boxer, a great tactician. But in Amir Khan, Bud [Crawford] is fighting not just a good boxer, but a superb boxer. Khan, if he fights the right fight, will give Crawford a lot of trouble. Amir has one weakness, as we all know – he gets cocky and he puts his chin out. And that’s the end of the story. If he fights cleverly and boxes the whole way, he’ll give Crawford fits. And Crawford will have to work hard to beat him.”
Eddie Hearn, Khan’s promoter, concurs. “Amir, skill and speedwise is right up there with Terence Crawford. He’s just got to be so disciplined not to engage. Crawford isn’t a huge puncher at 147lb, but he’s becoming quite a spiteful puncher at 147lb.”
Virgil Hunter, Khan’s trainer, added: “The biggest challenge is his mentality and his focus. Not to be drawn into a war and let the fight come to him. Take advantage of the attributes that he does have in the fight, which is speed, and he’s much stronger than people realise.”
Khan will have to have his heightened faculties at their best against Crawford. Speed, movement, explosiveness and above all, discipline. For me, the only way that Khan gets the win, is by getting ahead, then staying moving, and fighting in bursts. Does he have one brilliant performance left in him? We might hope so.
I have visited Khan four times in this camp, and he is relaxed and in phenomenal shape. But this could be his last stand. Crawford has great skills and spitefulness. Khan is never in a boring fight, but his fragility against lesser opponents of late concerns me, and as a result, I pick Crawford to catch up with Khan and stop him around the eighth round.
But if Khan does do what he says he will, and sticks to his plan, it could be a thriller. But instinct suggests a Crawford TKO or KO around the eighth round. Victory, though, if Khan can pull it off, would represent one of the greatest triumphs ever by a British boxer in the United States.