Amir Khan will return for his first fight in England in nearly two years when he takes on former IBL lightweight champion Julio Diaz in a very fascinating fight.
Both fighters have seen very strong rises over the past few years, but the rise of Khan has been most impressive—rebounding strongly from defeats to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia by posting a strong victory over Carlos Molina in December.
He'll no doubt enter the ring on Saturday night full of confidence that he can continue his comeback to being one of the biggest rising stars in boxing. Moreover, he'll be doing it in front of his home crowd in the U.K., which will surely spur him on throughout the night.
Given that he hasn't fought in front of an English crowd for nearly two years, that factor should not be underestimated when trying to pick a winner in this fight.
Garcia is a talented fighter, but he won't even come close to Khan here.
If we're looking at raw talents and physical skills coming into this one, the British superstar Khan possesses a physical speed and hand power not seen often around the world. His last fight against Molina under new trainer Virgil Hunter showed that he was starting to develop the smartness to go along with his incredible skills and that he was not as reckless as he had been.
When Khan gets careless, he often finds himself in trouble, with the three losses in his career so far testament to the fact he is still growing in his mental toughness. However, if he can turn the corner here, he'll be incredibly tough to stop.
He is physically superior to Diaz, and if he can combine the mental edge that's started under Hunter, Khan will be nearly impossible to beat on Saturday.
Especially given all the added incentives that come for Khan here.
Khan has already suggested that he wants a number of fights this year to continue his rise back to the top, but he has conceded that this could be his last fight in the United Kingdom—something he'll no doubt want to finish on a positive note for his home fans.
He knows full well how a loss here to Diaz will play, and he more than understands what having three losses in his last four fights would do to his career.
Expect Khan—with his added mental toughness—to come to this one fully prepared and switched on. He is the superior athlete and has a better game, with the only player truly capable of stopping Khan being himself. And given that, under Hunter, those mental frailties are slowly starting to wane, this should turn out as a dominant win for the hometown hero.
Khan knows how important this fight is to his national reputation and career.
He won't slip up against Diaz.
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