Amir Khan vs Terence Crawford: The kid from Bolton eyes his greatest prize yet in New York showdown

Khan’s journey to the first bell has been ever so hard over the years, with fights taking just a bit more of him each time and it is unlikely to end pleasantly in the Garden

Amir Khan came to us as a child one hot Athenian summer with his flying fists, spiked hair and wide-eyed innocence in the shadows of the ancient land with a freshness millions adored.

It seems like his entire adult life has been played out in the open, often stripped bare like a child star from Tinsel Town: excitable, vulnerable, foolish at times and always so honest. He never made excuses when men dropped him, hurt him, cut him and he never bragged when his own fists delivered riches, success and fame.

On Saturday night as the lights dim in Madison Square Garden’s big room, the kid from Bolton will be a fabulous underdog when he steadies his nerves to climb eight steps to fight Terence Crawford, possibly the best fighter on the planet. It is a pay-per-view event, a big fight, with the WBO’s welterweight bauble as the glitz to the cash haul and reward for fighting at boxing’s most celebrated hall. It will rank high on any chart of boxing’s upsets if Amir wins.

Khan has been humoured this week by many, dismissed by others, and with each vicious snub, insult and rejection he has beamed and been as polite as a favourite sporting son talking about an impossible mission. It has that feel - that last chance feel - that makes the loser at the gala a danger. It’s been an honour to be in his company this long week in New York.

The talking is now over, the fighting will start on Saturday night after that lung-crushing moment, as the energy of a bout sucks out the breath of every normal person near the ring. And right then Amir will not think about title belts or cash, the journey from the Olympics, the rings he graced, stumbled and fell in. It will just be a fight and the kid is good at that.

“I can only remember boxing, going to the gym, having to make weight, fighting in small halls, going in championships; it’s all I have ever known,” Khan told me on Wednesday afternoon as we walked from his dressing room to the ring, which was not yet in place, at the Garden.

He was calm, at peace as we walked, knowing and understanding his immense task on Saturday night; it is a fight nobody outside of his protective entourage believes he can win. Some think, possibly even hope, it will be a slaughter, which seems dramatic and a bit excessive. There has always been an evil side to the critics Khan attracts; some have their hate barely concealed. Amir knows, he’s no fool, but he just fights on, decency on both sides of the ropes, shaming with action his hate mob.

Khan has been dropped, left sleeping, fought like a fool, lost fights he was winning during ten long years of memorable title fights. He has beaten a lot of very good men, boxed the crumpled ears off a few big names and on the way secured a place as one of Britain’s best from the last fifty years. He has lost four times, only once on points, is now 32 and knows that the best was probably left in the ring a long, long time ago. However, he still has the speed, he now has the ring knowledge and his New York state of mind is reassuring.

Crawford has employed NASA scientists to enhance his hand-to-eye coordination, which is a bit like Messi hiring a coach to help him brush up on his finishing. It does show that Crawford has respect and Khan would be the best win of his career; Crawford is unbeaten in 34 fights, the last 12 have been in world title fights at three different weights - he is the best, the smartest and nastiest fighter you have never heard of. I think secretly he believes Khan will fold early and easily and that is good news for Khan.

If Khan has a chance, under the canopies in the glorious hall at the very centre of New York’s rich boxing tradition, he needs Crawford to be complacent, he needs Crawford to switch off, possibly with his dead eyes on other glittering prizes down the boxing highway. It can happen, it has happened, but Crawford is a clinical man, not a fool.

As the ring empties, the venue crackles and the referee gently handles their moment of final stares, it will come down to two very different factors: for Crawford it will be what is to come, for Khan what is left? Khan’s journey to the first bell has been ever so hard over the years, with fights taking just a bit more of him each time and it is unlikely to end pleasantly in the Garden. However, Crawford will have to show us all just how great he is.