By Chris McKenna, courtesy of The Daily Star
AMIR KHAN insists he won’t repeat the mistakes he made against Samuel Vargas when he gets his big fight against Manny Pacquiao or Kell Brook.
The Bolton fighter admits he underestimated the Colombian and believed he would have an easy night on Saturday.
But he had to pick himself up off the canvas in the second round and survived another scare in the 10th before claiming a wide points win.
Now he is eyeing up a December clash with ring legend Pacquiao or bitter British rival Brook in what promoter Eddie Hearn believes will be a ￡20m fight.
Khan said: “Whether it is Manny Pacquiao or Kell Brook, it is going to be massive so I cannot make the same mistakes.
“It was a wake-up call and when I got knocked down I quickly got back on my gameplan.
“I looked at the video and there were maybe only four times he caught me clean, the rest were little flurries and taps.
“Sometimes I had to let him hit me so I could get close, he was awkward. Credit to him because he was a lot harder than I expected.
“But whenever I have a hard guy in front of me I up my game.
“I read everywhere that this fight was going to be a walk in the park and I started believing it myself. I am experienced but you cannot help let it in your mind.
“I have boxed so well against top opposition because I know I have to be on my A-game. I just did not have that sharpness in me because I was taking it too easy.
“I thought I would win the fight easy, I wanted to get rounds in, I was very confident and when you take a fight that lightly it becomes dangerous.”
Khan’s fight drew in record viewers with the biggest UK audience for subscription TV in boxing history.
It showed the former light-welterweight world champion and Olympic silver medallist is still a huge draw.
But it was back to normality in Bolton yesterday as Khan was kicked out of bed by wife, Faryal Makhdoom, to take their eldest daughter **isah to school.
He added: “I probably only had an hour’s sleep and I was on the school run, she is a big girl now in reception so I had to go and drop her off.
“My Mrs could have gone and taken her herself but I think she purposely got me up and sent me, back to earth with a bang.”
2023-10-21 17:51:42
