{"id":10117,"date":"2014-04-29T11:38:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T11:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2014\/04\/29\/khan-ready-to-dazzle-against-slick-collazo\/"},"modified":"2014-04-29T11:38:19","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T11:38:19","slug":"khan-ready-to-dazzle-against-slick-collazo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2014\/04\/29\/khan-ready-to-dazzle-against-slick-collazo\/","title":{"rendered":"Khan Ready to Dazzle Against Slick Collazo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Looking to Put Frustrating Year Behind Him<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

British boxing star Amir Khan has vowed to look his best yet despite spending the past year out the ring.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The former unified light-welterweight world champion has endured a frustrating 12 months having seen his chances of fighting Floyd Mayweather disintegrate when the pound-for-pound ace opted to fight Argentine bruiser Marcos Maidana instead.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Despite the setbacks, which saw Khan pass up the opportunity to take on Devon Alexander last December for the IBF welterweight title following assurances he would land \u2018Money\u2019 Mayweather, the Bolton pugilist is upbeat about his upcoming fight with the tricky southpaw Luis Collazo.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a difficult time,\u201d said Khan. \u201cBut the fact is I moved on fairly quick when I knew the Mayweather shot wasn\u2019t happening. It was just about refocusing my mind on the next opponent and luckily we were able to announce Luis Collazo straight away which allowed me the chance to get back in the ring as soon as possible.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted a tough challenge at welterweight and not just to go in there against some average guy. Collazo is a legitimate welterweight who is very confident after his win against Victor Ortiz but I know I have the tools to beat him,\u201d said Khan.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The Olympic silver medalist goes into the fight having not been in the ring since he overcame Julio Diaz in Sheffield last April.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Yet, Khan is confident he will be much improved having spent the last year locked away in the San Francisco gym of his esteemed American trainer Virgil Hunter.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to see an improved Amir Khan, the best Amir Khan, there\u2019s no doubt in my mind about that,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 12 months I\u2019ve been in camps with Virgil and we\u2019ve been working on certain aspects of my game that I never really got the chance to work on because I just didn\u2019t get the time as I was fighting so often.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the last few months I\u2019ve been focusing on improving myself and adding certain things to my game. Because I didn\u2019t have an opponent lined up and I wasn\u2019t fighting I had the time to look at myself and work on things I wanted to work on.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cOn May 3rd I\u2019m going to put that all into practice on the biggest stage and not only beat Collazo but look to beat him in real style,\u201d said Khan.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old is also refusing to look past the Brooklyn banger as talk of a showdown with Mayweather later this year, should he prevail, constantly being mooted.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not thinking about other possible fights, my mind and my attention is solely on Luis Collazo. To overlook him would be foolish, he needs to be respected and I give him that respect,\u201d said Khan.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what the future holds for me, all I know is I have to get through Luis Collazo to see what that might be. It\u2019s a tough fight but one I\u2019m ready for and very confident about.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to get in the ring on Saturday because it\u2019s been so long – I wish it was tomorrow,\u201d Khan said.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old Collazo is also well aware of how big a fight this could be in his career.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The Puerto Rican-American has shared the ring with a number of top fighters, including a closely contested bout with fan favourite Ricky Hatton back in 2006.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Now, however, he is at a crossroads in his career, with a win over Khan propelling him into a shot at even bigger fights.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fight [against Khan] is my whole career right in front of me,\u201d said Collazo. \u201cI believe if I beat Amir Khan I have a bigger future in boxing and if I don\u2019t, I have to start from the bottom again. I am not looking beyond Amir Khan. He is my main focus. From here whatever happens happens, but Amir Khan is all I\u2019m thinking about right now.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cA win over Khan does put me in the Mayweather sweepstakes, but my sights are set on Khan,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Khan and Collazo\u2019s bout will act as the chief support on a packed bill at the MGM Grand this Saturday, which also sees the brash talking Adrien Broner back in action against Carlos Molina, before the headliner Mayweather looks to make it 46-0 against the rugged Maidana.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

BoxNation viewers will be able to see a special hour long countdown show previewing the respective Mayweather and Khan fights this Friday at 7pm, with the final \u2018All Access: Mayweather v Maidana\u2019 show premiering on Saturday at 7pm.\u00a0<\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking to Put Frustrating Year Behind Him British boxing star Amir Khan has vowed to look his best yet despite spending the past year out the ring.\u00a0 The former unified light-welterweight world champion has endured a frustrating 12 months having seen his chances of fighting Floyd Mayweather disintegrate when the pound-for-pound ace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}