Amir Khan took Neeraj Goyat fight at short notice to ‘erase’ nightmare Crawford KO
AMIR KHAN flew off to the Saudi Arabian desert to bury the memory of his horror Terence Crawford defeat.
But he is back and ready to take on WBC Asian champion Neeraj Goyat in Jeddah next week.
The Bolton welterweight, 32, was accused of being a quitter after his April WBO title clash with pound-for-pound king Crawford ended with a whimper.
Ex-world champ Khan was pulled out of the contest claiming he could not continue after a low blow from the unbeaten American.
Khan’s brave reputation, earned by taking on the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Marcos Maidana and Canelo Alvarez, took an even bigger blow.
But he has jumped into a tune-up bout with Indian Goyat, with only a few weeks of training, after a month’s rest for Ramadan, to exorcise some demons.
The Brit said: “I took this fight so quickly to erase that memory. That fight, I just can’t live with it.
“Reading the comments and stuff about me afterwards I had to fight again as soon as possible.
“I’m one of those guys, who if I get knocked down, I get back up, I fight with my heart.”
PAC PLANS
After the New York showdown, Khan said he called time on the bout to preserve himself for future bouts.
And one of those will be against eight-weight world champ Manny Pacquiao with a date set provisionally for November 11.
Father of two young girls, Khan did not want to end the night unconscious on the canvas, like he did against Mexican Canelo in 2016, and unable to provide for his family.
He said: “I’m getting older and I have to think about my family, and when I got hit with that shot, it took a lot of energy out of me.
“I thought: ‘There’s always another day’.
“I’ve seen fighters in America who are in the Boxing Hall of Fame and they have nothing. I feel bad about that and I never want to be in that position.”
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The 2004 Team GB Olympic silver medal winner even joked the poor pay-per-view sales for his last show may have preserved his warrior-reputation in the USA.
He said: “The PPV view numbers were not good so maybe it is a good thing not many people saw it.
“I do have a big name in America and people know my history and what I am about. I don’t think the Crawford fight has harmed my name there. The big fights can still happen.”
- Amir Khan v Neeraj Goyat is live on Channel 5 and the undercard on 5Spike on Friday July 12.
