In each of his last two fights, British welterweight Amir Khan entered the ring as the heavy favorite.
He was supposed to walk through both Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia, paving the way for potential superfights with Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao.
But a strange thing happened to Khan. He got beat. Twice. Once by spectacular knockout.
But you'd never know it with the way the Brit and his team have been talking lately. They seem to have not gotten the message that Khan is no longer considered an elite-level prospect, and in fact, many argue that his losses exposed him.
Don't forget, Garcia wasn't the first man to knock out Khan in spectacular fashion. Brendis Prescott also pulled off the feat in the first round of their 2008 fight. And like the others, Khan was expected to handily beat him, too.
So coming off his latest knockout loss, you'd be right to expect a little humility from Khan and his camp, which includes new trainer Virgil Hunter, who has done wonders for Andre Ward's career.
It turns out, you'd be wrong.
Khan has spent the last several months calling out potential opponents, feeling he has the right to dictate terms.
Before settling on relative unknown Carlos Molina, who has little power and will have to come up in weight, Khan was dismissive of another undefeated fighter, former two-time world champion Joan Guzman.
Khan recently told the Manchester Evening News (h/t ESPN UK):
I want someone who is a bit more credible than him. I've come from world title fights and he [Guzman] might be a little below that.
You'd think he was Floyd Mayweather Jr. with the way he dismisses an undefeated former two-time, two-weight division champion.
More recently, Khan's trainer Virgil Hunter was dismissive of a challenge from fellow Brit, and perhaps the nation's new rising star, Kell Brook.
Hunter told BoxingScene.com:
From the business side 50/50 won’t happen. Listen, Kell is a good fighter and he has to be considered as a future champion, but the reality of this matter is Kell is still playing catch-up in his accomplishments. Amir is focusing on Carlos Molina and he will take his fights one at a time. It would be great to see Kell beat a couple of real contenders or champions and build up to a fight in the future with Amir.
Now, Hunter is too respectable a boxing guy to be repeating the company line this blatantly.
Khan has accomplished a fair amount in the ring. He's beaten solid fighters including current WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi, former champ Zab Judah and Marcos Maidana.
Has Kell Brook accomplished that? Not yet. On that point, Hunter is correct. But let's not lose sight of his fighter's recent past.
Khan is nowhere near the top of the sport. Some will argue that he never should've been in the first place, and his losses to Peterson and Garcia exposed him. I'm not willing to go that far.
The Peterson fight was wrought with all sorts of controversy, and you can make the argument that Khan won the fight, and Garcia himself has since emerged as one of boxing's rising stars.
What you can also argue is that Khan and his team need to focus on fights and not talk.
He's not Floyd Mayweather. He hasn't earned the right to be dismissive of potential opponents, and he certainly doesn't have the resume to trash-talk.
That has to be earned inside the ring. And Khan hasn't done that.
It's time to stop running his mouth and start shutting other people's.
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