Khan's protests after the Garcia fight is stopped fooled nobody
The last four days have been loaded with both obituaries and declarations of faith for the career of Amir Khan.
His resounding defeat at the fists of Danny Garcia in Las Vegas at the weekend brought the 'pro' and 'anti' brigades to full polarising fore, almost as much as an article which had the gall to compare boxers who act like professional wrestlers to actual professional wrestlers.
For once, both sides of the debate had common ground: the Bolton lad's future looked bleak.
His fellow professionals concurred, whether positively or negatively (or apparently in Carl Froch's case, both). Even Kell Brook, who rubbed Khan up the wrong way in continuing the proud boxing tradition of throwing out bold and premature challenges, sympathised with his Mandalay plight.
"I know we aren't each other's biggest fans but I never like to see a fellow Brit lose," Brook tweeted on Sunday.
"I'm sure we will meet someday but for now hope Amir is ok."
Ironically, the undefeated Sheffield fighter was at the time just one week removed from a gutsy performance in outpointing Carson Jones which answered questions of whether 'Special K' could take punches as well as he could dish them out.
It is the same concern Khan, another accused by some of being mollycoddled, has yet to fully address despite cracking America and claiming gold at world level. And it is a concern which Garcia probed successfully en route to going 24-0.
But this is where much of the panic surrounding where Khan goes next is just that - panic. Amir has a big issue to address in his defensive abilities going forward, but to translate that into his chances of building a legacy being kaput is sensationalism.
Firstly, let's take nothing away from Garcia, who walked into the bout as underdog courtesy of a lower profile at the time as well as the cancellation of Khan-Peterson II, but proved beyond doubt that he would be a handful for anyone in the welterweight division.
Secondly, Britain has high-profile examples of boxers who were notoriously prone to sweet shots from hard-hitters (Lennox Lewis against Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, for instance) and who have been outclassed by rivals who were simply superior boxers (Carl Froch's Super Six loss to Andre Ward). Both have nonetheless done themselves and their country proud — and the Cobra isn't finished yet.
Finally, there is a lot more in the making of the Garcia fight than meets the eye, all of which points to an ongoing continuation of the Peterson nightmare for Khan.
It was something this very blog feared could hinder the Englishman shortly before the July 14 main event was rubber-stamped, and those fears appear to have been realised in full.
Khan will have a lot longer than 10 seconds to pick himself up after pro defeat number three
From the controversial points defeat in December to a crack at redemption — and a monster payday for a rematch the boxing world was eager to see happen — to the ban and subsequent stripping of the new champion, Khan no doubt was boiling up inside, eager to make up lost ground and prove loss number two on his record was completely unjust.
With no return bout, one can only speculate. And despite having almost the entire weight division's contingent of middle-rung boxers ready to step up in Peterson's place, the decision was made to seek the biggest possible test at seven weeks' notice.
Now, The Pugilist loathes one-sided set-up fights as much as the next paying customer. But if anyone needed light relief and an opportunity to vent their angst on a glorified punching bag, it was Khan at this stage.
Instead, he tried to overcompensate. The gamble failed spectacularly.
This opening was evidently spotted by the Garcia clan in the build-up, and in retrospect the racist ramblings of father Angel unfortunately proved a successful ploy to open up Khan further on the night.
In fairness to Khan, he has already proven himself capable of bouncing back from the depths of a resounding stoppage, as evidenced by the reaction to his first professional defeat in 2008 to Breidis Prescott.
Funnily enough, that resurrection began with the replacement of his trainer — and lightning may well strike twice.
At present, Khan is on the public appearances circuit, signing merchandise on the high streets ahead of observing Ramadan, and taking in some needed and deserved respite after a fight which brings him to a huge crossroads.
He will hopefully learn from the mistakes of the last seven months and take as long as he needs out there, as at 25 he can undoubtedly return to prominence when the time is right.