Amir Khan hoping road to Floyd Mayweather goes through Luis Collazo

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/apr/26/amir-khan-floyd-mayweather-luis-collazo-boxing

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It is nearly 10 years since Amir Khan returned from Athens a teenaged Olympic hero. He has seen more crossroads than a camel in that time, hailed as an exciting world champion then reduced lately to waiting for scraps from the table of Floyd Mayweather after losing his title.

Yet three defeats as a professional, one tainted by his opponent's subsequent failed drug test, two inflicted by devastating stoppage, seem not to have dimmed the Bolton boxer's desire for fighting, which is why he should be lauded for sharing a ring in Las Vegas next weekend with Luis Collazo, a dangerous southpaw who gave Ricky Hatton nightmares eight years ago and who is as determined at 33 as Khan is at 27.

If he beats Collazo, the former light‑welterweight champion will be back in the queue for a shot at Mayweather – providing the welterweight king beats his chosen challenger, Marcos Maidana, in the main event at the MGM Grand on Saturday.

Khan's last outing was a year ago, against Julio Díaz in Sheffield, when he had to get off the floor, a place he knows a little too well, for a close points win over a light-hitting opponent who is a year older than Collazo. While a year represents a yawning absence from the ring, Khan would seem to have used the time well. He has revealed that he was often taking off up to a stone in the last week before a fight when campaigning at 10st and feels much stronger at welterweight. And so will be his opponents from now on.

His deficiencies are neither strength nor power, and certainly he is as quick as anyone in his division, but he has long betrayed a disconnect between the upper and lower parts of his machine, his hands often moving too quickly for his feet. This has put him off balance and made him vulnerable against even heavy hitters. Khan says his trainer of the past two years, Virgil Hunter, has corrected the flaw, and we will see his handiwork against Collazo – who is no easy touch.

"This fight is my whole career right in front of me," the New Yorker said this week. "If I beat Amir Khan, I have a bigger future in boxing and, if I don't, I have to start from the bottom again."

Khan may not see defeat quite like that. He has been at the top for too long. He could easily walk away if he loses badly this time. If he wins, and does so spectacularly, he will be flying once more. He can start dreaming about Mayweather again. The great man says he is coming to London in June. It is unlikely he will be here to watch the tennis. Perhaps he thinks Khan can beat Collazo. Perhaps, finally, he will deliver on his promise to fight him. Perhaps.

I expect Khan to be too quick for Collazo but he may again have to win the hard way, going from horizontal to standing tall at the end. It is why he keeps the TV executives interested – not to mention the rest of us.